Arches National Park

I arrived at Arches late tonight, just after sunset. With what light was left I captured these photos. I can't wait to see what I find tomorrow, Arches is a beautiful place.

Canon 30D, 10-22mm, 70-200mm, Sandisk Digital film.

Canyonlands

So there I was... 5AM in the pitch black after a 2 hour drive from Grand Junction. I finally made it to mesa arch. I have always loved the photos that I have seen of it and now I finally have some of my own. It was a beautiful morning and only 2 other people there, so it felt like I had it all to my self. After that I went driving around to take a look at the lay of the land and boy is it something to see, canyons everywhere. I then went for a little hike to False Kiva, a not so well known area of Canyonlands. It was a nice hike down the side of the cliff face to where this is located. What a sight, the view from the alcove was just breath taking, and to think that someone had this as the view from their house. After I got back to the car it was time to go find my next photo. After a little longer hike then I had thought I finally found the spot I was looking for. It is a not so often seen view of canyonlands. I was then walking back to the car in the dark, Just the way I started the day. What a wonderful day it was!

Canon 30D, canon 17-40mm, 70-200mm 10-22mm, Sandisk digital film.

Monument Canyon

After work today, yes working on Saturdays, I headed back up to Colorado National Monument. There is some fall color showing in the canyons, really rich yellows. Tonight I wanted to get some photos of Monument Canyon, so I did a little hiking to find a good spot. Once I found the right spot, I just rested up on a nice piece of sandstone and waited for the sun to go down. It was so nice to just sit there and take in the canyon. Who needs TV when you have views like this!

Canon 30D canon 70-200mm, 17-40mm, Sandisk digital film.

Another Beautiful Sunset

Oh what a cool sunset tonight!! It was crystal clear all day with not a cloud in the sky, then just before sunset some nice clouds rolled in which reflected the sunlight beautifully. After dropping my samples off at FedEx I drove as fast and as safe as I could up the steep windy park road to a couple of overlooks that I spotted out last night. This national monument has some really cool geologic features. The coke ovens are formed by the forces of wind water and ice. It was getting pretty dark when I drove up to the Grand View overlook, so I used a 30 sec exposure to capture what light I could. In the background are the bright lights of Grand Junction. Man I love this town!

Canon 30D, Canon 10-20mm, Sandisk digital film.

Colorado National Monument

After work today I only had a little bit of time to make the drive up to Colorado National Monument. The shear cliffs and rock formations are awesome! I hope I have some free time this weekend to get back up there. The shot above was taken well after the sun went down. The shot below it was taken this morning while I was driving out to the job site. This deer better be careful, because it is hunting season and drive by hunters on four wheelers drive up and down these dirt roads looking for an easy shot.

Canon 30D, Canon 17-40mm, Canon 300mm, Sandisk digital film.

Colorado

Well It has been a while since I last posted. I have been busy working and getting married to my beautiful wife Julia. While I have been taking photos, I have also been lazy and not posting any, but that is going to change. I am now out in Grand Junction Colorado working and boy is there a lot to photograph. I just wish I could spend more time taking pictures rather then working, but it just don't work that way. So after work today I rushed out to get some of the last light before the sun set. I went North of town to Mt. Garfield, it was a great place to watch the sunset.

Canon 30D, Canon 70-200mm and 17-40mm, Sandisk digital film.

Lawrenceville, IL

Boy things have been busy, between getting stuff ready for the wedding, moving and working down in Illinois for the past two weeks, I have not had a chance to take too many pictures let alone post them on here. Here are a couple of photos from down here in Illinois. The first one is of the old fabrication shop that is at the site that I work at. With the heat index around 107 and what felt like 99% humidity, storms were rolling through all day. In between storms some cool clouds formed over the fab shop and I grabbed a few shots. The other photo is of a hawk that hangs out at the site.
Canon 30d, canon 17-40mm and 300mm, SanDisk digital film.

Mt. McKinley

Well things have been busy, I have been getting ready to move and boy do I have a lot of stuff. I have found some time to finally get this panorama put together from my trip up to Denali. It was taken around 1:30 am. It was one of the most beautiful sunsets that I have ever seen.

Canon 30D, Canon 17-40mm, Sandisk digital film.

Mew Gulls

It was that special time of the year for these Mew Gulls. They would be all quite, then they would start making all kinds of noise and the male would try and hop on the females back. Sometimes she wouldn't mind it but other times, like the bottom photo, she wanted nothing to do with him. Potter marsh is a very cool place and if you ever get up to Anchorage in the spring time you have to stop and watch the birds.
Canon 30D, canon 300mm, TC1.4x, SanDisck digital film.

Other Birds

These are some of the other birds that I saw at Potter marsh. It is really a lot of fun watching these guys and seeing how they interact with each other. The Terns would be dive bombing the gulls and the Scaups would be chasing off the Terns, and the Terns would be chasing the other Terns. Its like watching the Discovery channel without all the commercials.

Canon 30D, Canon 300mm, TC 1.4x, SanDisk digital film.

Artic Terns

Whenever I am in Anchorage and it is spring time I have to make a stop at Potter marsh. It is just a couple of miles south of Anchorage and is a great place to do some bird watching. The Artic Tern is a fun one to try and photograph, as soon as you get one in the frame and get it focused it is gone. These little guys are quick but a lot of fun.

Canon 30D, canon 300mm, TC 1.4x, SanDisk digital film.

Unalaska

Well the past couple of days has been pretty wet, so I have not been able to get out as much as I would like. Here are a couple of photos from Saturday, when the weather was much nicer. Hopefully today will be nice and sunny.
Canon 30D, Canon 70-200mm, Canon 60mm, SanDisk digital film.

And then there were two

Over the past couple of days, I have been heading out to the Bald Eagle nest to see if the babies have hatched. Saturday the second baby finally hatched a few days after the first. The parents take turns keeping these little guys warm, and feeding them. When it comes time for feeding time you can tell which baby hatched first, because the older baby will start pecking at the little one to take him out of the picture.

Canon 30D, canon 300mm 1.4x TC, SanDisk digital film.

Puffins and a Baby

The puffins are back and they are starting to build their nest a few sticks at a time. Last night I went out to check and see if they had made it back from their winter out at sea. They are a lot of fun to watch, a couple of times they would try and bring sticks back that were just too big for them to fly with. As soon as they got air born they would go crashing back into the water, but they figures out how to break the sticks into smaller sections that they could fly with. After watching the puffins I drove out to summer bay where the bald eagle nest is. One of the eggs has hatched, it is the little fuzz ball under the eagles head. Momma has some fresh fish for her new born, which is right under her tail feathers.

Canon 30D, canon 300mm lens, 1.4x TC, SanDisk digital film.

Waiting for the hatch

Well I have been having some problems with the wireless the last couple of days, so here are some photos from Sunday and Monday. On my way out to Summers bay, I past little priest rock and with the cool clouds and light, I had to get a shot. Once out to Summers bay I checked out an eagles nest who is waiting for her babies to hatch. The immature eagle was taking a bath in a mud puddle by the hotel.