buettner.to blog

Month: August 2013 (page 2 of 2)

August 10, 2013 / 1 Comment

Marie and Tiger

I got a new piece of gear today, an Orbis Ring Flash Diffuser.  It’s a round plastic gizmo into which you insert a speedlight.  The Orbis channels the light out a circular diffusing panel with a hole in it through which you can insert the lens.  Thus, for close-ups, you get a large light source which creates very few shadows.

These are some shots I got while playing around with the Orbis earlier tonight.  I used a 50mm lens on my NEX-7 with ISO set to 400.

Marie and Tiger:

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Marie without Tiger:

2013-08-10-DSC04775-mediumTiger is a big kitty!

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August 10, 2013 / 0 Comments

Fisher Tower Photos

My photos from our hike at the Fisher Tower’s area on June 2nd, 2013.

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I had to climb fairly high to get a photo of this monolith.  After getting this photo, I noticed that the trail kept going up, so I kept following it.  Marie took a photo of me when I was up there.

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Another view of the monolith, now down to the left.

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Marilyn and Marie are sitting in the area of sunlight below the big wall.

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This ladder is needed to make progress along the trail.  The trail maintainers added a metal handle to grab onto when ascending and descending since I had visited the area before.

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August 9, 2013 / 6 Comments

Friday Fitness Hike

 

This week’s hike started at the Wagner Trailhead, though we never actually got around to hiking the Wagner Trail.  Even so, we hiked 8.7 miles.

I got this photo of the sunrise before the hike started.  Part of the Wagner Trail is visible in this photo.

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Another pre-hike photo; A good view of Red Mountain off in the distance with some interesting foliage in the foreground.

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We hiked the Tortoise Trail to the Pemberton and then hiked Pemberton to Stoneman Wash.  We hiked up the wash, stopping to take photos at this rusted convertible.

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From left to right are Kevin, Bob, Amy, Janet, and Teresa.

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Bob took this photo of me while I was photographing the car.

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A large palo verde tree in Stoneman Wash:

2013-08-09-DSC04559-mediumWe hiked up one of the feeder washes for Stoneman Wash.  It eventually lead us back to the Pemberton, somewhat south of the Bluff Trail.

We saw this rattlesnake along the way.  Ranger Amy has confirmed that it’s a Mohave rattlesnake.  We saw one on last week’s hike too.

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I was suprised to see a blooming barrel cactus in the area.

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A view from the Pemberton Trail.  There is a small bench just below and left of the Palo Verde on the hill.  Just below and beyond the tree and bench lies the Bluff Trail.  The yellow sign visible in this photo warns of a sharp turn on the Pemberton Trail.

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Teresa and Bob hike down the Bluff Trail.

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A view of Weaver’s Needle and the Flatiron far off in the distance:

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We came across a number of healthy looking ocotillos while hiking back on the Bluff Trail.

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Ranger Amy spotted this horseshoe on a granite boulder.

2013-08-09-DSC04727-medium A view of the nine o’clock fountain with Red Mountain behind it.

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August 6, 2013 / 0 Comments

Sunday Bike Ride Photos

Marilyn and I rode our bikes on Sunday morning.  I rode up the Tonto Tank Trail to try to get a sunrise photo from a location I had scouted earlier, but I’m not happy with it.  I should have gotten there earlier and had my 50mm lens with me.  I brought my NEX-7 with a 35mm lens; I had never tried to ride with my NEX-7 before.  I had to make some minor adjustments to the harness of my Think Tank Digital Holster in order to ride comfortably.  I initially had it too low and it interfered with pedaling.

I finished riding up Tonto Tank and met Marilyn on the Pemberton:

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I tried, unsuccessfully, to get Marilyn to ride up the Boulder Trail with me.  The Boulder Trail leads to the Marcus Landslide Trail.  It’s very pretty up there, but it has more elevation gain than Marilyn was willing to do.  I took this photo on my way up the Boulder Trail.

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A photo of a large boulder on the Boulder Trail:

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This boulder was on the Marcus Landslide Trail.

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I met up with Marilyn at the intersection of Bluff and Pemberton.  We continued on Pemberton where I got this photo of the crested saguaro near Granite Tank.

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A closer look at the crested saguaro and its companion to the right.  Both saguaros have fire damage from the Rio Fire back in the 90s.  Damage on the crested saguaro is not as evident on this side as it is on the other side.

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This large, multi-armed saguaro can be seen off to the south along the new section of Pemberton.

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August 2, 2013 / 5 Comments

Friday Fitness Hike

Janet, Linda, Bob, and I hiked out on the Pemberton from the Trailhead Staging Area today.  We passed the site of the ranch homestead until we found a promising looking wash heading west.  We hiked the wash, seeing three snakes along the way.  I only got photos of two of these snakes.  We returned via the Tonto Tank Trail.  Total distance was 7.67 miles.

I took this photo from the road leading into the parking area while before the hike.

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A photo of the sunrise, also before the hike:

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A large multi-armed saguaro in Stoneman Wash:

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A view from the Pemberton, near Stoneman Wash:

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This is the wash that we hiked after leaving the Pemberton.  It meandered both west and north, though there were several forks we could have taken along the way which would have probably lead us to the Pemberton again.

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Linda takes a photo of…2013-08-02-DSC04217-medium

…me, Janet, and Bob:

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Three photos of the first snake we encountered.  I believe it’s a Western Diamondback rattlesnake.

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Linda took this photo of me photographing the snake:

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Bob, Linda, and Janet wait for the snake to move off.

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This is the second rattlesnake that we saw.  Linda and Alan’s research suggests that it’s a Mohave rattlesnake.  I saw one other snake, but it was not a rattlesnake; I don’t know what it was aside from being small and quick.

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A view of Four Peaks from the Tonto Tank Trail:

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