Month: July 2013 (page 2 of 3)

Freckles on the Roof

Freckles likes to go out on the balcony and then onto the roof.  We let her do this because, unlike our other cats, if given enough time, she’ll come back on her own.  Tiger and Callisto are not content with staying on the roof; they like to find ways to get down to the ground.

We lost sight of her when she went over the roof peak.  I walked around to the front of the house to check on her; she saw me and walked down to the edge of the roof to see me, meowing all the while.

2013-07-17-DSC03020 2013-07-17-DSC03032-medium She found a comfy shaded spot next to the skylight.

2013-07-17-DSC03058-medium It was a perfect vantage point from which to watch this bird:

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When it was time to come back inside, her mom scolded her for being away for so long.

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Amber Gymnast/Teen Zine

AmberGymnast

Another Teen Zine entry.

The picture was actually drawn last summer during the Olympics. It is based on one of the rhythmic gymnasts. Regrettably  it was drawn on lined paper, so I did quite a lot of editing to take the lines out, and to color out the white paper. On one the edges, there is still some white visible.

 

Sunset Hilltop Trail Photos

I took these photos from the Hilltop Trail in McDowell Mountain Park.

Sunset:

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I don’t think that I did an especially good job of editing this photo, but Marie says that she likes it.  I was walking back to my truck when I saw this bunny.  I shot this hand held at f/1.8 in aperture priority mode.  The camera (on auto-ISO) chose ISO 1250 for 1/80 sec.

2013-07-14-DSC02963-mediumI took this photo of a saguaro cactus after sunset.  For this one, I used a tripod using ISO 100, f/8, 1/20 sec.  I ended up using the +2EV exposure of the three exposure bracket.  I was surprised that it (alone) worked for both the light areas of the image and the dark areas too.  I played around with tone mapping it too, but I prefer this edit obtained by merging various exposure values by hand.

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Another shot, somewhat later, with some burnt wood in the foreground.

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“Waiting for a Fairytale” / Teen Zine

My library system has a yearly publication called Teen Zine, which features submissions of art, photography, and creative writing. I decided to enter (I think it’s a contest of sorts, but I’m not entirely sure) and I know my chances of being featured are very good. Why not?

Here’s my submission (my first so far; I think multiple entries are allowed, and I shouldn’t just have one)

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http://mcldconnect.org/teen/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Teen-Zine-2012-Web.pdf    (Teen Zine from 2012)

I don’t know when this year’s Teen Zine will be published, or when I will be notified in the event of my submission being accepted.

 

Juniper Berries at Fisher Towers

Marie took this photo of Juniper Berries during our hike at Fisher Towers.

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Clouds over Arches National Park

Marie took this photo of clouds over Arches National Park.

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Park Avenue Trailhead at Sunset

Marie took this photo of the Park Avenue Trailhead at sunset during our first night at Moab last month.

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Friday Fitness Hike

Friday’s hike was 6.25 miles, starting from the Trailhead Staging Area.  We hiked out on the Pemberton Trail and then explored some of the washes near the former site of the Pemberton Ranch homestead.  We returned via Stoneman Wash and Pemberton.

Linda showed up with a new pair of gaiters.  We needed our gaiters today – they kept stuff out of our shoes as we hiked though sandy and vegetated washes.

2013-07-12-DSC02379-mediumTwo views of one of the washes we explored:

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A photo of Amy as she was…

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…taking this photo of us:

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The small canyons we hiked started out fairly open, but gradually narrowed with lots of twists and turns.  We encountered several forks along the way too.  If you choose incorrectly, you end up in a box canyon.  Today, however, we guessed at the right route; some of our past explorations of this area required us to retrace our steps.2013-07-12-DSC02442-medium

Bob and Sarge pose beneath an undercut section of wall:

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Linda and Amy hike past a steep wall.

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Amy tells us about this Verdin nest:

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As noted earlier, our way narrowed down.  At this point, we had to hike single file.

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Taking a water break…

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Sarge!

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More views on our way back to the Pemberton:

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We came across this rusted piece of metal.  None of us could figure out to what it might have once been attached.

2013-07-12-DSC02631-medium A short while later, Amy found this spoon in the wash:

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We followed our wash across the Pemberton on its way to feeding into Stoneman Wash. Bob stopped to give Sarge some more water.  I used the time to hike to the top of a small hill to see if we were already in Stoneman wash or if we still had further to go.  (We still had a ways to go.)  While atop the hill, I took this picture of the group with the McDowells in the background:

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While still on the hill, I turned around and took this photo looking across Stoneman Wash towards Four Peaks.

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It was starting to get warm as we hiked up Stoneman Wash and Sarge was panting a lot. Bob stopped to give Sarge some more water.

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After Breakfast

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Marie on the Buettner Family Step

This is near the top of the steps leading up to the Ski Jump in Iron Mountain, Michigan. I am told that several years ago the steps were in an extreme state of disrepair.  They were refurbished with money from step sponsors.

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