Panos and Monos and a Whole Lotta’ Fun!!!

September 30, 2015 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged Carson Valley, Dangberg Home Ranch, Nevada Gunfighters, night photography, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Photoshop, Sierra Nevada Mountains, sunsets | 1 Comment

In my last post (only 11 days ago for those of you who are counting), I introduced my exploration into panoramic images. To me, a panorama (or pano) is an image that is much wider than it is longer. Panos show the world in a little different way. They can be made from any image – it’s just a matter of cropping to create the pano. I prefer to make a number of overlapping images, and then use the magic of Photoshop to merge them together to create a pano. A quick note on panos – they are best suited to stationary subjects! I don’t think I can make a pano of a band of wild horses walking to the water tanks. With that said, let’s see some new panos!

This pano was made by combining 8 images together. The subject is a stretch of U.S. Highway 50 from Echo Summit (on the left) to Meyers CA (to the right), and was shot from a turnout on CA Highway 89. I love driving this piece of road towards Meyers because the view of Lake Tahoe is superb. My lovely bride, however, doesn’t like this road because of the dropoff. The text was an experiment, as my photo challenge last week was text overlay. After making the pano, I tried a new editing workflow to make the colors ‘pop’ more. I like the new workflow, and am adjusting it to my processing.

This is the same stretch of highway, but I used 10 images to create this one. This pano has more content on the left side, and is the image I submitted for my challenge. I used the word ‘Journey’ in this image. Remember that I am on a ‘Journey in Creative Photography.’ It seemed appropriate.

This view of Jobs Peak (on the left) and the Sierra Nevada Mountains was made from 10 images, and was shot from the Dangberg Home Ranch. The clouds and the sky cooperated – I can hardly wait for snow on the mountains!

Our sunsets have been amazing this past week, so I got out the tripod and camera to see what I could do. I like the results! All the sunsets were made from my backyard, but I may have to see what other views of the mountains and sunsets I can find!

Makes you want to live here – or at least come to visit!

I made this pano to see how it would look in black and white (or monochrome – mono), but I kept it in color.

And so, we come to the ‘mono’ portion of the post. After reading several articles on black and white images in one of the photo magazines recently, I thought I’d give it a try.

This is a composite made from 6 images. I was going to make a pano, but I would have lost too much texture from the clouds. It was early for the sunset (the sunsets above were shot a few minutes later) and not much color, but I like the texture of the clouds. A little desaturation and other tweaking, and voila!

Painted Hills, Central Oregon, last July.

Same image in black and white. I need to work on my technique, but there’s definitely potential.

Same location, different view.

And still a fun technique. Of course, the colors in the Painted Hills just can’t be improved upon.

And if you think trying new shooting and editing techniques isn’t enough fun, you missed a great show at the Dangberg Home Ranch (www.dangberghomeranch.org) last Saturday. The Nevada Gunfighters put on a great show. Here’s a couple images – please go to my Nevada Gunfighters page for more pictures.

As I recall, Miss Emma – she runs an escort service, of sorts…

Miss Strawberry Tart. Former School Teacher and now escort, of sorts…

There you have it! Panos and monos and a whole lotta’ fun! The raptors are slowly coming back to the Carson Valley, and it’s just about bear time at Taylor Creek. I won’t forget to visit the wild horses, too – I promise! I hope you had as much fun looking at my pictures as I did making them. Until next time – Enjoy! PHOTOROGR

I just get distracted too easily…

September 19, 2015 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged Blue Jays, Carson Valley, CV Chamber of Commerce, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Photoshop, Pine Nut Wild Horse Advocates, Sierra Nevada Mountains, sunsets, Walker Burger, Walker CA, Wild Horses, Wildlife photography | 1 Comment

I’ll admit it. Three weeks between posts is abhorrent and shows a lack of discipline on my part. I just get distracted too easily. Between taking pictures, exploring new techniques in shooting and editing, friends visiting, printer issues, some business stuff, and ensuring I spend time with my lovely bride and the family, the blog suffers – sometimes for a couple weeks. When you see the pictures, however, I think you’ll appreciate what I’ve been doing.

I fixed the printer problem by purchasing a large format printer. I can now print up to 13″ x 19,” and shouldn’t be distracted by printer dysfunction anymore. By the way, the prints are great!

I spent some time working with the PhotoMerge function in Photoshop and Lightroom. I successfully merged a series of images of the Sierras that I made in 2008. I was on my way to work when I saw the mountains with a band of snow, a band of light, a band of dark, and some low clouds. I was in awe and stopped to grab a few pictures. My plans to merge them were always set aside (see, distracted too easily), until now. Here’s the result – not a great image, but it proves that I can do it. More to follow!

Susan’s dad asked for a Walker Burger a couple weeks ago. (It’s a great distraction!) If you haven’t been to Walker Burger, it’s worth the drive from anywhere. Thankfully, it’s only a 40 minute drive from the Carson Valley on US 395. Go soon, because they close for the winter on October 15. Not only are the burgers the best on the planet, but the ‘Garden Dining’ experience is wonderful. The Blue Jays were great and the small birds enjoyed the bird feeders. You can buy a bird house there, or just enjoy the bird houses in the dining area.

We’ve had some phenomenal sunsets due to the smoke from the California fires. Most exciting for me, however, was the morning that the sun was screened by the smoke and I got great pictures. See what I mean! (Check the Landscapes and Scenery page for more sunset images.)

Yes, this is the sun screened by the smoke. The color is great, but I was very excited to catch a couple sun spots.

If I put a stem at the top, it could be an orange or a peach, but it’s the sun. Not the sharpest focus, but the colors are beautiful!

One of my favorite sunset images. The smoke can be seen low on the horizon making a wonderful golden glow, but the light on the contrails makes the picture for me.

Last weekend, a good friend came to visit. Brian and I served together in the Air Force almost 30 years ago. We drove a bunch of miles, but the horses weren’t cooperating, the leaves are already gone in the Sierras (dadburned drought), and the Glen Alpine Falls were a mere trickle. We had a great couple days, catching up on family and life. I’d say ‘just another distraction,’ but it could have been a different story if I’d gotten some pictures.

I caught up with some of the horses this week. Most were uncooperative, but Blue let me walk around his band and make images. In spite of his gruff demeanor, he’s just a big Blue puffcake at heart. Don’t tell the other studs, though – they will NOT believe you! Check out the Wild Horses page for more images.

Blue! Nothing more need be said.

I don’t get ‘artsy’ with the horses very often, but I loved the line of heads as they walked by.

Socks – chillin’ under a tree while his ladies were enjoying a dirt bath. Seriously…

Blue with a couple ladies and one of the kids!

For the business stuff – I’ve been working on new note card designs and filling an order for Christmas cards. I have two images in the Pine Nut Wild Horse Advocates Foals of 2015 calendar, and got notified that I have an image in the Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce 2016 landscape calendar. It’s very exciting for me!

So, I hope I’m forgiven for the long wait and I hope you enjoyed these pictures. Many more to follow – please stay tuned!

Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

Energize and revitalize!

August 27, 2015 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged Aviation Roundup, Beechcraft Twin Beech 18, Carson City, Carson Valley, Genoa Peak, Lake Tahoe, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, sunsets, USAF Thunderbirds, Warren Engine Company | Leave a comment

A little over a year ago, I retired and started a journey to become a photographer. Every time I try to sit back and take stock of my progress, there’s a new subject begging to be photographed. The best part is that I feel like I actually have a starting point to make the image. I’m not always right in my decisions, but I feel like I can make the adjustments and have a successful shoot. I’m still loving my journey and have no regrets about taking that first step.

I have great friends, old and new, and family who have been supportive through it all. Thanks to everyone for helping me along the path, from encouraging words to buying my images to telling me about photo opportunities. It’s not much fun without you. Please stay with me as the journey continues, because there’s lots more to come!

Every now and then, I am unhappy with my images and myself. Sometimes it’s the subjects or the challenges of light and shadow, and sometimes it’s my lack of knowledge in editing. When I get down, I give myself a break, clear my head, and then jump back in. This week, the grind of editing for the Boy Scout car show got to me. I took some horse pictures, and wasn’t happy with the results. Last night, I went on a photo walk with a couple of my mentors and a few new friends. I made images of subjects I don’t normally shoot and cleared my head. The people were fun and the pictures are coming out great. I’m doing a little experimenting with the editing, but I’m renewed and re-energized.

In my last post, I promised more car pictures from the Boy Scout car show. As noted above, it’s become more work than I had originally thought (but it’s providing a great opportunity for learning the business side of photography), and those images aren’t ready yet. I’ve also been distracted by other subjects in the last couple weeks. Here are the images from my distractions.

Lake Tahoe ATV ride: we rode a trail on the east side of the lake, with fantastic views. There are a couple more pictures in the Landscapes and Scenery page.

And the USAF Thunderbirds came to the Carson Valley. See the THUNDERBIRDS! page for more images!

The Thunderbirds were here as part of the Aviation Roundup, with static displays and other flying demonstrations. This is a Beechcraft Twin Beech 18 doing some acrobatics.

Which brings us to the Photo Walk and its non-routine subjects. This is only a sample – there are more to come!

This stained glass piece is in a local antique shop. It was nicely backlit and easy to shoot.

I was intrigued by this street light against the west wall of the original Warren Engine Company fire station. I added the vignetting in the corners, but I’m not sure I am completely pleased with the result.

The sunset was beautiful, and the church steeple made an excellent foreground!

I’m trying several new techniques with this image. I made multiple images from this location, including several bracketed exposures. I’ll let you know how the experiments come out.

I caught the moon over the roof of the Nevada Supreme Court Building. I kept hoping the wind would come up and extend the flag, but it was not to be. I like this image, though.

As you can see, sometimes the distractions are very hard to overcome. They are, however, very necessary to maintain the creative juices. This crusty old engineer needs all the creative juices he can get, because they are sometimes hard to come by. Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

All cars – all the time!

August 13, 2015 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged car photography, Carson Valley, Ford Falcon, Ford Mustang, Ford Thunderbird, Ford Trucks, Hot August Nights, Lincon automobiles, Minden Nevada, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Reno Nevada, Silver Dollar Car Show, Sparks Nevada | Leave a comment

August is here, and it’s the serious part of car show season. If you’re a car person, Northern Nevada is a great place to be in the summer. There are car-based events within a half day’s drive every weekend and many weeknights all summer long! Many events are in Reno, Carson City, or the Carson Valley, making the drive even shorter. Classic cars sparked the photography bug in me, so the summer months are enjoyable for me. August is wonderful, with Carson City’s Silver Dollar Car Show, followed immediately by Hot August Nights and other local shows.

We have a new show, called the ‘Send a Scout to Camp’ Car Show, put on by Boy Scout Troop 33 in Carson City. This show is this Saturday, August 15, 2015, in Fuji Park, one of my favorite venues for a car show. I will be photographing participant’s cars and the awards ceremony, and selling a photo CD with those images – all proceeds go to Troop 33. Come on down and see the cars. Oh yeah – I’ll have my 2008 Mustang Bullitt on display.

The last couple weeks have been great for me to get in shape for this weekend’s action. I traveled to Mills Park in Carson City for the Silver Dollar Car Show. Just when I think I’ve seen every car in the area, something new pops up. This year, I came across a gorgeous Ford pickup. The truck was beautifully restored and modified, with fun surprises at every turn. Here are the pictures!

What a gorgeous truck. The paint has a matte finish (no clear coat here!). I’d love to get this truck in better light and uncluttered surroundings.

Beautiful craftsmanship in these bed rails.

Radiator overflow? I hope so…but I won’t be accepting a drink from the owner anytime soon!

The tires and wheels were spotless and perfect for the truck.

Underhood we find a 5.0L High Output (HO) motor from a 1988 Mustang. Wow!

And the air filter, with a cap from Shell Motor Oil!

This truck was very easy to shoot, sans clearcoat and no shiny surfaces. Glare and reflections are always a challenge, more so when you don’t control the light. In bright conditions, I use a neutral density (ND) filter or circular polarizer to minimize glare.

The Thursday after Silver Dollar, I loaded up the PhotoRanger and my buddy Rich, and headed for Minden for the Hot August Nights Poker Run. The Poker Run takes the cars on a lengthy journey – usually over 100 miles- and, depending on the route, from Reno to Lake Tahoe, Minden, Virginia City, other places, and back to Reno. I prefer to sit on 4th Street and capture the cars as they come into town. The light is generally good and the background is (most of the time) uncluttered. Here are a couple images from the Poker Run.

This was not the only Lincoln at Hot August Nights. This 1948 made a grand entrance into town!

I’ve always been partial to Falcon station wagons, as my first car was a 1961 Falcon Style 21, a 2 door wagon. It was the lowest priced Falcon, and also the least desired. Yes, I wish I had mine back. This lovely 1964 would be a suitable replacement.

While my lovely bride and I were dating, my ’65 Mustang was having issues. My older brother owned a dark blue 1965 Thunderbird convertible, vey similar to this well restored car.

I was asked to come to Sparks on August 8 to take pictures of a friend’s car, intended to be a birthday present. My lovely bride consented to go with me, but not act as my assistant (I’m hoping to have an assistant one day). We wandered around Sparks, the best venue (in my humble opinion – Victorian Square is like walking around a park), waiting for the cruise night to begin for the pictures. I won’t post pictures of the surprise car, because I don’t want to ruin the surprise. Another day, perhaps. Here are a couple cars from the show and shine, and some cars cruising down Victorian Square.

A beautiful 1966 Mustang GT fastback.

What can you say about this truck, other than WOW?

Sometimes you see amazing things on Cruise Night. That’s an interesting way to walk your dog, eh?

Here’s another Lincoln – this one a 1947.

There are additional pictures in the Automobile page – please take a look! And I hope to see you at Fuji Park this weekend. If you can’t make it, watch for pictures in my next post!

Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

Happy 4th of July!

July 3, 2015 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged Carson Valley, Ford Ranger, night photography, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Photoshop, sunsets, Wild Horses, Wildlife photography | Leave a comment

Can you believe that it’s July? The calendar year is half over, but the business year is not. Next month will be one year since I decided to become a full-time photographer. Am I making lots of money? No, but I’m having a lot of fun and my knowledge of photography and photo editing is growing by leaps and bounds. You’ll see some of that growth in this post. For the business year – It’s time for me to report my business assets to the County Assessor for tax purposes. I think I can get everything together and look forward to the tax bill.

But first, an update on the wild horses. Until last week, I have been photographing four bands in the area. The studs are Blue, Blondie, Socks, and Shorty. Please also recall that we have a group of bachelor studs, the ‘Boys’ Club,’ waiting for their turns to establish a band – Sampson, Jack, Little Socks, and Skip. In a major power move, Shorty stole all of Socks’ mares so Socks is now a bachelor. When I see him, he appears very lonely and forlorn.

A very lonely Socks!

He won’t even look at the camera.

I have a theory that Socks cut a deal with Shorty to look after the family while he took a little break. I’m told that’s not a viable theory.

Here’s an image of Shorty’s band taken yesterday, with all of Socks’ mares and foals in the group. Please don’t ask me which mares formerly belonged to Socks.

They were enjoying a lazy day, just relaxing and not too concerned as I approached on foot.

And my buddy Blondie – remember the butt shot from my last post? Well – late last week I found his band, parked, and approached on foot. Blondie didn’t like that in the least! For the first time, he ‘challenged’ my approach, actually running towards me. He stopped when he could see me and I was never in any danger, but it made me a little more wary than usual of where he was while I made my images.

Blondie keeping a very watchful eye on me!

I only made a couple images due to Blondie’s obvious ‘discomfort’ with me being there. I like this one – I think it’s Little Scarlett and Mama.

Yesterday, Blondie’s band was across a small valley from Shorty’s band. As I approached in the PHOTORANGER, Blondie gathered everyone up and off they went. I’m not sure what I did to make him mad.

Blondie’s band moving off. Horse butt pictures aren’t really exciting, but I like the pattern created by the numerous rears as they walked away.

And Blondie, walking away – keeping himself between me and the band.

And what about the Boys’ Club? Some of my friends have pictures of Socks with the Boys, but I don’t have any as yet. I found the Boys close to some of the houses, just being boys.

Our temperatures have been high the last couple weeks, with intermittent rain and thunderstorms. We have a fire south of us that has burned 18 square miles. Thankfully, the wind has blown the smoke away (and my power bill likes that!). Since I melt at about 85 degrees (figuratively, not literally), my shooting time is short, leaving me lots of time to stay indoors and work on my editing skills. A really BIG SHOUT OUT to my Photoshop mentors (you know who you are!!), who helped me over a giant hump in learning a couple techniques. Here are a couple of images I edited this week – see if you can identify the changes I made! Hint – they’re very subtle.

This is Little Jo with Mom, Dad, and several other members of the band. The exposure is way off and there is the horse at the bottom of the shot who just doesn’t belong.

Through the magic of Photoshop, I removed the horse at the bottom of the picture and rescued my poor shooting. The result is very pleasing, I think. Oh yeah, Blue is facing the camera behind the black horse. That’s not him on the left.

During the winter months, the Raptors migrate through the Carson Valley. Photo opportunities are everywhere. I caught this juvenile Red Tailed Hawk last February at one of the local ranches. Exposure has been one of my greatest challenges, and lately I’m getting a better handle on it.

I think the image works better with him facing right instead of left, and I fixed my poor exposure and got a little closer.

The night skies have also called to me. The sunsets have been gorgeous and I’ve worked on my ‘low light’ shooting while I’m out there. Temperatures are much better when the sun goes down, so why not?

I made this image from my backyard while we still had a hint of smoke from the wildfire.

Another from my backyard, through the trees. The smoke is gone, but the storm clouds made gorgeous light!

Same evening – different vantage point.

…and a little to the right…

A look at the Pergola in our backyard. This is looking northeast, so the evening light is much different.

One final night shot. This is looking southeast from my front yard. My neighbors very thoughtfully built this beautiful scene in the front corner of their yard. I photograph it often.

And I’ll close this post with a couple images of the PHOTORANGER in action. This little truck has been a great addition to the stable, and I continue to be impressed with its performance in the field. I took my father-in-law out to look for the wild horses yesterday. He was impressed with the truck, but said he preferred the ‘softer’ ride of the other cars. I understand completely.

Enjoy – and have a wonderful 4th of July! God Bless America! PHOTOROGR

…you may be in for a shock…

June 25, 2015 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged ATV trips, cactus flowers, Carson Valley, Ford Mustang, Ford Ranger, Hoonie Mine, Mercury Cougar, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Photoshop, Quartz Peak, Reno Mustang Car Club, Restomods in Reno Car Show, Wildlife photography | 2 Comments

I have no idea where the time gets to. I sat down to build this post and realized that it’s been over two weeks since my last post. I haven’t been sitting around, however, as you will see from the images below. I have made some changes, too. The first change is that I bought a new camera body – a Canon 7D Mark II. To help me learn the camera, I bought a book by David Taylor. I’ve used his books before, so I was confident things would go well. Then I read the first page – “If you’ve just upgraded to an EOS 7D Mark II from one of Canon’s consumer DSLRs you may be in for a shock.” Boy howdy, was he right!! It’s a big learning curve, but the results will be worth the work.

I would also like to introduce you to the PHOTORANGER!

The PHOTORANGER – a 1999 Ford Ranger Sport – in its natural environment. You can see Blue and his band above the bed on the far hillside! This image was made with the new camera body.)

I took it into the Pine Nut Mountains to find the horses and see how it performs. It did not disappoint. I took it to a few places that I wouldn’t take the Expedition. Very fun for me!!

A couple weeks ago, my friend Rich and I went to the Restomods in Reno Car Show. See the Automobiles page for more images, but here’s my favorites from the day.

Who doesn’t love a classic Mustang with a matching pedal car?

Some people just know how to live. The Reno Mustang Club president just acquired this a few weeks before the show.

This Boss 302 belongs to a good friend of mine. He’s still working on his ’66 hardtop.

I’ve always had a soft spot for Cougars. This car was beautiful and I was pleased with this picture. Note the Parnelli Jones tribute car on the left.

And I hate it when I hit the wrong button and publish too soon. My apologies to those of you who will get this again.

I took a ride with my ATV group to the Hoonie Mine on Quartz Peak. The scenery was gorgeous and the quartz formation was awesome. See the Landscape and Scenery page for more images.

The view of the Sweetwater Range from the summit of Quartz Peak.

Who knew that quartz could sustain life?

But plants are everywhere, if you know where to look…

As I said, the quartz formations were great!

I spent some time in the Pine Nut Mountains. When the horses were hiding, the cactus flowers made great subjects. Check out the Wild Horses page for more pictures of the horses, and the Landscape and Scenery page for more cactus flowers.

This is the Boys Club – Samson, Little Socks, Skip, and Jack. These 4 bachelor studs are hanging out together until they get their own mares and start their own bands. They were on the hill overlooking Blondie’s band and lined up for this shot.

This is Blondie, not too worried about the Boys Club (who were behind me) but wanting to know what I was doing.

For my Wyoming friends – a cactus flower shaped like a ‘W’.

I submitted this macro image to a contest – we’ll see how it fares in competition.

Well, that’s it for this post. Enjoy and I’ll try to be more timely with my next post.

Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

All RAW — All the Time!

June 8, 2015 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged Carson Valley, Cattle drives, Cinnamon Teal, Daggett Pass, Egrets, Finches, Hawks, Lake Tahoe, Marmots, Monitor Pass, Pelicans, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Photoshop, Raptors, Rock Chucks, Scenery, Waterfowl, Wild Horses, Wildlife photography, Willson's Phalarope | 1 Comment

It’s a quiet Saturday morning and I’m not heading out for an hour or so. My friend, Rich, and I are going to Reno to see the Restomods in Reno Car Show. Assuming they come out, you’ll see pictures in my next post. I’m astounded that it’s been almost 3 weeks since my last post. Time really flies when you’re having so much fun!

I’ve made a couple changes in my shooting and editing process since my last post. First, I’m shooting in RAW format exclusively (All RAW – All the Time). I resisted going to RAW for a very long time because I wasn’t comfortable editing in RAW, it consumes massive amounts of memory, and the images can not be used right out of the camera – they must be edited. In the last few months, I made learning to edit in RAW a priority and have gained enough comfort factor to shoot in that format exclusively. Of course, my editing time has increased and I fill up SD cards quickly. The tradeoff is worth it, however, as I was becoming increasingly less happy with the JPEG images coming out of the camera. The second change is my ‘backup’ process. Like many photographers, I have triple redundancy for storing my images. Until recently, I used the SD card from the camera, my computer, and an external hard drive. Since I’m filling up memory cards so quickly these days (a 32 GB card every 3-4 weeks – yikes!), my lovely bride convinced me that buying more and more SD cards was not the most cost effective method for storage. Plus, SD cards can fail and they are not recommended for long term storage anyway. So I purchased another external hard drive and spent some time backing up all my images on it. Fortunately, memory (data storage, not my feeble mind, darn it) is getting better and cheaper all the time.

I’m refining my workflow for editing in RAW, but it’s getting easier and I’m getting more proficient. A REALLY BIG THANKS to all my PHOTOSHOP mentors who cheerfully (at least when I call) answer my sometimes silly questions. We’re usually on the phone, so I don’t see their eyes rolling and their voices don’t betray them. Occasionally, my questions trigger a learning moment for them, too, so I think it’s beneficial all around.

Enough about that part of my creative journey, though. Now I have to remember what I’ve been shooting for the last couple weeks. Because my feeble memory doesn’t feel like it’s getting any better as time goes by, I keep a shooting log to help me remember where I’ve been, when I was there, and what I was shooting – that’s a big help.

A day or so after my last post, a friend texted that a local rancher was moving some cows and it would be a great photo opportunity. I grabbed the camera and ran out the door – well, I did say bye to my lovely bride. As usual, the appointed time was ‘flexible,’ so I looked for interesting shots while I was waiting.

I found this breeding adult American White Pelican in an irrigation ditch.

This is a great shot of Jobs Peak, the Carson Valley’s most recognizable mountain peak.

Oh yeah, I was there for the cattle drive. George Strait sang ‘How ’bout them Cowgirls?’ I always thought the song was for the Wyoming Cowgirl basketball team – turns out it wasn’t. This was an all female crew and they did a great job!

A couple days later, I made a trip to the Pine Nut Mountains and found Blue’s band. The sly devil moved them from open ground and into high brush, but I still managed a few nice images.

I’m not a big fan of horse butt pictures, although I have quite a few. I liked how this little one was just visible above the brush.

Several of the mares and babies. Our bands look very healthy.

Little Jo – my favorite!

And this is Blue. He’s the stud!

In the last couple weeks, I’ve made several trips to Mottsville Lane here in Douglas County. With the rivers flowing well (for now anyway), there’s lots of water for the migrating waterfowl.

My bird book has been getting quite a workout. This is a Wilson’s Phalarope.

In the same pond, a Cinnamon Teal.

This Great Egret posed and pranced for me, then ‘floofed’ itself and flew away. As my followers know, I love it when a bird does something a little unusual for the camera.

The mountains called a couple times, so I made trips up Monitor Pass in California and took a hike at Lake Tahoe with my son.

I took a drive up Monitor Pass for some scenic shots. After driving by it many times in the past, I finally noticed this tree. I have several images to edit, as I photographed the tree from all angles. I liked this shot and edited it first.

This is Lake Tahoe from Castle Rock, just off the Tahoe Rim Trail near Daggett Pass.

This is a California Snow Flower – some call it a California Snow Plant. They are starting to grow in the Sierras and we saw several on our hike.

Sometimes, one finds interesting shots on the side of the road and in the backyard!

Driving in from the Pine Nut Mountains the other day, I saw these Hawks in a tree next to the road. A baby was visible, when I pulled up, but dropped out of sight when I started shooting.

Okay, this wasn’t on a public road, but I shot this from a vehicle. A friend took me on a tour of a highway construction project and this well-fed little guy, along with several friends, make the project home. I’ve never made images of a Marmot (aka Rock Chuck) like this before.

This Robin sat on a rock in my backyard long enough for me to see him, get my camera, sneak out a door on the far side of the house, and make several images.

Another patient little fella’. This Goldfinch sat in one of my Austrian Pine trees long enough for me to see him, go get my camera, and make several images. Although he sat on the branch for a while, he did not sit still. I have several shots of him in motion.

Many of you have seen my night shots of my neighbor’s trees and the moon (one of those is my cover photo on Facebook). The moon was in position the other night, so I made a few more of those shots. While I was out there, I also made some images of the pergola in our backyard. My lovely bride designed the trees and lights very well. While I was shooting the pergola, a playful spirit found his way into the shot! Silly playful spirit.

I’m finishing this on Sunday night, after a busy day yesterday at the car show and a trip to Reno today for a friend’s retirement ceremony. My apologies for the further delay. The car show images are worth the wait until the next post – I promise.

Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

As promised – car show pictures…

May 18, 2015 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged 1928 Franklin, 1928 Lincoln Tow Truck, 1932 Ford Woodie, 1936 Ford Roadster, 1940 Ford Pickup, 1940 Ford Woodie, 1966 Ford Mustang, Big Mama's Car Show, Carson Valley, Holy Smoker's Car Show, Owls, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Photoshop, Photoshop Elements | 1 Comment

In my last post, I promised pictures from the Holy Smoker’s Car Show (May 2) and Big Mama’s Car Show (May 9). I tried some new shooting techniques at Holy Smoker’s, using neutral density (ND) and circular polarizer filters alone and in combination, with interesting results. As a result, the images you see below and in the Automobiles page took a lot of work in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. This is good in several ways. I learned: 1) how to use these software packages better; 2) the value of shooting in RAW format, and; 3) most importantly, this filter combination doesn’t always work in certain lighting conditions. My journey continues. Let’s look at a few pictures. (Go to the Automobiles page for a few more pictures.)

Who doesn’t love a well done Woodie? This is a gorgeous 1940 Ford.

I don’t remember what year this is, but my feeble memory says 1932…if only I could read that license plate…

This 1940 Ford Pickup belongs to my good friend, Charlie. He went a little wild and widened it several inches. More elbow room, I think…

I don’t normally take pictures of cars that aren’t Fords, but who can pass up a 1928 Franklin that looks this great?

To prove I was there – here’s my ’66 Mustang hardtop. Darn tree put my car in shade all day, and the guys in the background were manning the barbecue grills. Yes, I gave her a bath when we got home.

After working on the Holy Smoker’s pictures, I revisited my shooting techniques and decided I was over thinking and trying too hard. For Big Mama’s, I left the ND filters in the bag and just shot with the circular polarizer. I like the results and the amount of work in post-production much better. As a warning to all of you aspiring photographers out there (and a reminder to me), remove your ultraviolet (UV) filter before you attach your circular polarizer. I used both last year and got a condition called ‘vignetting’ (dark areas in the corners). The journey continues!!!

Here are a few images from Big Mama’s. Those of you who follow me on Facebook have seen these pictures, but you haven’t seen the pictures on the Automobiles page.

I have the filters worked out, but now I need to work on the finer points of composition, like ask the nice people making the shadows on the fender to move out of the way…my ’66 Mustang hardtop.

My good friend, Mike, took second in class (gotta’ wipe off the grass from the tires to win the tie breaker) but was picked ‘Best of Show.’ Fudge will be on next year’s show t-shirts.

Another friend, also named Mike, brought this beautiful 1928 Lincoln tow truck to the show. Last year he brought a 1912 Speedwell (featured on this year’s shirt as the kid’s choice).

Not seen on Facebook – here’s the rear of the Lincoln tow truck. See, it really could pick up your car and take it somewhere.

Here’s a teaser to get you to go to the Birds page. Some of our friends have been watching a Great Horned Owl pair in the tree across their driveway. This Owl pair had two babies about two months ago. I finally made time to get some pictures. This is one of the babies. The rest of the family was off somewhere.

No, this little one’s not glaring at me – that’s just the way Owls look.

Well, that’s the fun I’ve had in the last couple weeks. The journey continues as I try new things – some of which work and many that don’t – but that’s what a journey is all about. Until next time, enjoy! PHOTOROGR

All Who Wander Are Not Lost

April 14, 2015 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged Carson Valley, Coloma CA, Como Mine, Dayton NV, Genoa Cowboy Festival, Genoa NV, Genoa State Park, Lake Tahoe, Palmyra NV, photo editing and composition, Rawe Peak, Virginia City NV, Wild Horses, Wildlife photography | 4 Comments

My lovely bride and I snuck out for a quick dinner last week and, on the way, I saw a sticker on a car that read, “All Who Wander Are Not Lost.” For some reason, the phrase resonated with me – maybe because I was hungry – but the thought seemed incomplete. Susan and I discussed the sticker over dinner, brainstorming ways to complete the thought. We decided that it needed to say, “All Who Wander Are Not Lost – Some Of Us Are Taking Pictures!” I slept well that night, meeting a subliminal need to be profound. Maybe it was the good dinner and wonderful company – I’ll go with that (love you, Cutie!).

In my last post, I teased you with a promise to deliver a great composition montage from my photography challenge. Here you go!

This is the stamp mill at Coloma State Park, overlaid with a texture from a classic Chevy I found in a barn yard. I placed the wood stamp mill in the rusty areas of the texture and let the faded grey areas interact with the background and foreground.

The challenge for last week was street photography. The instructions were simple: go to a location(s) and take pictures of street scenes – include people if you can. I was a bit apprehensive for this challenge. I don’t live in a big city where people can be oblivious of activity on the street. And the Carson Valley is not small enough so I know everyone. Granted, I know lots of people here, but not everyone and, in true pioneer spirit, being too invasive can get you shot around here – figuratively, not literally. So, I traveled across the Valley to the Town of Genoa. It’s a quaint little place – the oldest settlement in Nevada (unless you’re from Dayton, where they take exception to Genoa’s claim, but I digress). Tourism is big in Genoa with lots of people around, so I felt safe with my camera over there. Genoa has one main intersection with a 4 way stop. I parked a little bit away from the intersection and started taking pictures: a nice couple walking through the Genoa State Park; vehicle traffic going through the intersection; a family stopping at the General Store from their bicycle ride; and a group of men enjoying drink outside the Genoa Bar, the “Oldest Thirst Parlor in Nevada.” My attention kept returning to a group of people placing mulch in the planting areas along the street. I recognized one of the workers, so I approached and said howdy. They are members of the Friends of Genoa, and were sprucing up the downtown before a major tourism conference next week and a big event, the Genoa Cowboy Festival, the first weekend in May. They were very chatty and welcomed me and my camera. Here’s my image.

I got rave reviews from the photo challenge facilitator, who liked that the woman’s red jacket complemented the red in the stop sign, the ‘V’ positioning of the people, and the lines created by the tools connected the people in the picture. Better lucky than good? Yes, I think so!

One of the great things about being retired/self-employed is that my time is mine to use as I wish. Susan and I live in a great neighborhood with wonderful neighbors. Several of these neighbors are members of an ATV group that hits the trail at least once a month. This month’s trip was southeast of Dayton, the Rawe Peak area, and featured fun stops at the Como Mine and the Palmyra town site. If you want more information on this area, just Google ‘Como Mine’ or ‘Palmyra, Nevada’ and you’ll find lots of information on the area.

This is Lynn, John, and Bob, with the Como Mine in the background.

Looking down to the road from the mine equipment. The high desert was beautiful.

This drum was intriguing. I don’t know enough about this mine to tell you what its purpose was.

The remains of the only building ‘standing’ in Palmyra.

I can’t go anywhere without looking for a little wildlife. We hit the jackpot near Palmyra, as we found a band of 6 horses, including a young colt.

Here he is with Mom. A fire passed through this area some years ago, making tough walking to get close to the horses. Not too close, however – this was shot with the big lens and then cropped.

The yellow grass, bare trees, and reds in the horses created quite the challenge for my limited photography skills. The horses were mostly cooperative and didn’t run away.

We also went to a nearby mountain, just down from Rawe Peak, to enjoy the views and let a couple group members do their geo-caching thing.

Looking northeast towards Stagecoach, Nevada.

Looking northwest towards Mt. Rose. Dayton is in the right side of the image, and Mound House is on the left.

Looking across the Dayton Valley to Virginia City on the hillside (along the light brown line in the far mountainside). Mt Rose is just out of the image on the left.

The view to the southwest and the Carson Valley. Jobs Peak, Freel Peak, and Little Sister are the prominent snow covered peaks. Lake Tahoe is just over the ridge of the far mountain range.

I’ll close this week with a images of the wild horses closer to home. I checked on them the other day, and they are enjoying the spring very well. I now have images of 7 new ones this year. I know the names of 4 of the 7. I hope you enjoyed my fun week. Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

These are the two little ones in Shorty’s band, I think. They didn’t get too far from their Mamas.

This is one of my favorite images from this year, and is available on a small note card or as a larger print. Sorry, I had to get one commercial plug into the post!

My ‘Creative Spirit’ is alive and well!

March 26, 2015 by The PHOTOROGR Project in Uncategorized and tagged Carson Valley, Fallen Leaf Lake, Glen Alpine Falls, Lake Tahoe, Owls, photo editing and composition, photography techniques, Wild Horses, Wildlife photography | Leave a comment

As promised, I’ve been trying new techniques and subjects this week, and I’ve been having a blast. I haven’t forgotten my familiar subjects, however, and you’ll still see plenty of them. Before we get to this week’s highlights, I’m very excited to announce that I am offering for sale 4.25″ x 5.5″ glossy note cards. I printed a set of prototype cards and sold out immediately. Take a look at the ‘Buy My Images’ page for prices.

Let’s start with my image for last week’s photo challenge – Shutter Zoom. This technique uses a long shutter speed combined with changing the focal length (or zooming) the lens to create an interesting image.

This is one of our apple trees. They are leafing early this year and provided a wonderful subject. The only editing I did was a little cropping and ‘vignetting’ (the light color in the colors).

The challenge for this week is a ‘re-do,’ to make another try at a previous challenge. I didn’t have a plan for this challenge, waiting for the creative spirit to strike. While shooting at Glen Alpine Falls yesterday (more on that later), I made an image that begged to be black and white. Here’s my submission for this week’s challenge, a re-do of the black and white challenge.

PHOTOROGR - Re-Do - Black and White - 6311

Glen Alpine Falls in black and white.

Since I already introduced yesterday’s shoot, here are additional images from Glen Alpine Falls. The falls are usually much more dramatic this time of year, but the drought and resultant lack of snow pack have really impacted the falls. They are still beautiful, but this is more typical of water flows in late summer or fall. I worked on shooting in manual mode, selecting aperture, ISO, and shutter speed, and exploring how changing one impacts the other two. I normally shoot in aperture priority, as depth of field is my primary concern for birds of prey. My next go round with landscapes will include different filters. So much fun to be had!

Glen Alpine Falls.

Glen Alpine Falls.

These rocks are not part of the falls – they are downstream. They have their own water source and create a different kind of waterfall. I noticed the intricate shadows caused by the rock surface, which created a very pleasing pattern. The old and large tree on the left enhances the composition.

Speaking of great trees growing in an unusual environment, on my way to Glen Alpine Falls I saw this tree growing at the top of a rock cut. The road was built about 60 years ago, and the solid rock slope has eroded away during that time. I am amazed that this tree is growing considering the lack of soil and water supply, and exposed root system. It grows, though, and has for years. Nature is truly wonderful!

The wild horse bands have been great this week, too. Blue now has three babies, and Blondie has one. Here are the little ones.

This is the newest little one – Sydney – one of Blue’s babies.

My special buddy, Little Jo. She put on quite a show for me the other day.

And Little Jonah, Blondie’s daughter. She was feeling quiet when I saw her the other day.

I found Hope having quite a fun time. She was bucking and jumping and roiling in this dirt patch. I kept thinking she found an anthill, but she kept going back and eventually lost interest.

And I found some owls.

I’ve been trying to make a good image of these two for several months. I finally figured out the right combination of aperture, shutter, ISO, and shooting technique to get an image that I could edit. The light was not nearly this good when I made the image. And the bird on the right took off right after I made this image.

I found this Horned Owl by accident. She had her head up at the right time. I’ve been back a couple more times, but she keeps her head down more often than not. There will be more of this one in the future.

I will close with a couple fun images. The Manzanita is blooming in the Sierras, so I took this picture. By chance this morning. I saw this balloon in the sky over Gardnerville and pulled over in time to catch him descending and landing. And so, my Creative Spirit is truly alive and well. New subjects, a number of new shooting techniques, and an eye looking for different opportunities – expect lots of fun in the coming weeks! Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

Manzanita is beautiful year round, but these pink flowers make it more so.

Gotta love a hot air balloon in the sky, with the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the background.

The PHOTOROGR Project

A Journey in Creative Photography!

Tag Archives: Carson Valley

Panos and Monos and a Whole Lotta’ Fun!!!

I just get distracted too easily…

Energize and revitalize!

All cars – all the time!

Happy 4th of July!

…you may be in for a shock…

All RAW — All the Time!

As promised – car show pictures…

All Who Wander Are Not Lost

My ‘Creative Spirit’ is alive and well!