C. Zimmer

Glacier National Park Day 4

2010-07-22T14:13:00.002-04:00

On Day 4 we took a hike up to Avalanche Lake, it was a nice long uphill hike, with plenty of beautiful views. While sitting by the lake we saw a fawn, so I walked over to get some photos and the fawn walked right up to me like 5 feet away, it was crazy. We also saw a group of bighorn later in the day.

Canon 5D MarkII, Canon 17-40mm, 70-200mm, 300mm, Sandisk Digital film.

Glacier National Park Day 3

2010-07-15T14:48:00.002-04:00

On our third day we took a drive up to Many Glacier, it is a nice little drive just north of the east entrance of the park and is just as beautiful as the rest of the park if not more so. I mean this park is just beautiful, mountains and lakes and streams everywhere you look. It would take a lifetime to see everything this park has to offer.

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 17-40mm f4l, Sandisk Digital film.

Glacier National Park Day 2

2010-07-12T15:39:00.002-04:00

On day two of our trip we drove over to the east side of the park and hiked the Sunrift Gorge area. With all the snow melt the streams were really flowing which made for some great photo opportunities. Later that night we stopped to get some photos of wild goose island. I used a long shutter with a neutral density filter to get the clouds to have a soft flowing look to them.

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 17-40mm f4L, SanDisk Digital film.

Glacier National Park Day 1

2010-07-03T15:30:00.005-04:00

Hey its been a long time since my last post, but this past week Julia and I made it out to Montana to Glacier National Park. We have been planning this trip for some time and I was very excited to get out there. Above are some photos from our first day in the park. I just could not believe the color of the water in the rivers, it was beautiful!

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 17-40mm f4L, SanDisk Digital Film

Ashtabula River Steelhead

2009-12-24T14:09:00.003-05:00

Monday my buddy Matt and his brother and I went on a float trip down the Ashtabula River. With the thermometer in the car reading 22 degrees we loaded up the kayaks and fly rods and headed up to Ashtabula Ohio. When we got up there the snow was flying and the wind was blowing, but we geared up and pushed off down the river. The day started off slow with all the chunks of ice and slush flowing down the river making a nice drift a difficult task. Before too long we were on to the steelies and Matt's brother hooked into the nice one above which gave him a good fight. I was able to land two out of the three I hooked and Matt hooked a couple but they got the better of him, which happens way too often. If you have never caught a steelhead you would not believe the power these fish have, they can strip the line off your reel in seconds.
Needless to say we had a great time and plans are in the works for our next kayak/fishing trip.

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

Yellowstone Falls

2009-11-02T15:49:00.002-05:00

After our time at Madison Junction we drove up to Canyon Village and made a stop at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. It is a beautiful spot that I just loved. I used a split grad filter to get the great clouds and bright sky to the same exposure as the darker canyon. Without the filter either the sky would have been blown out or the canyon would have been to dark.

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 17-40mm, Sandisk Digital Film.

Yellowstone Wildlife

2009-11-02T15:37:00.002-05:00

While we were out driving around enjoying the sites, we were lucky enough to spot some wildlife. Next to Madison River we watched as a coyote was on the hunt for some food. He would stalk his prey slowly and then when the time was right take a leap in the air and pounce on his meal. We watched Bison grazing on grass and lounging around, and just before dark we saw a nice Bull Elk eating dinner. I wish I was back there right now!

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 300mm, Canon TC 1.4, Sandisc Digital Film.

Grand Prismatic Springs

2009-10-23T10:58:00.003-04:00

After a day of fishing on the Hernys Fork of the Sake River, where I hooked a beautiful 23 inch cutthroat trout, Yellowstone had finally opened the roads up without any snow chain restrictions. So we headed in through West Yellowstone and to Madison campground and set up camp. We then headed down the road to Grand Prismatic Springs, but instead of walking the boardwalk right next to the spring, we headed over to the Fairy Falls trail. It was a nice little hike down the trail and took a little detour up the side of a small hill that over looks the spring. After slipping and sliding up the snow covered hill we were treated to an indescribable view of Grand Prismatic Spring. The sun was shinning through at our back and there were some beautiful dark snow clouds in front of us. The colors in this spring are just crazy! We were given just a brief window of time to snap some photos before the clouds blocked the sun and started to drop hail and snow. I could have spent the whole day there just sitting and taking it all in!

Canon 5d MarkII, Canon 17-40mm, Canon 300mm with 1.4x TC, SanDisk Digital Film.

Snake RIver Overlook

2009-10-23T10:48:00.003-04:00

After spending some time at Oxbow Bend we drove up to the Snake River Overlook. A beautiful stop that overlooks the Snake River with the Tetons as the backdrop. The sun was really starting to shine hard which made for some nice black and white photos.

Canon 5d MarkII, Canon 17-40mm, SanDisk Digital Film.

Oxbow Bend

2009-10-22T11:40:00.005-04:00

Soon after the beautiful sunrise the clouds came in and covered the top of the Tetons. So we jumped in the car to drive around and see the sights. We stopped at Leigh Lake to enjoy the reflections of the mountains in the crystal clear lake. Then headed on down the road toward Oxbow Bend.

By the time we got to the Bend the clouds had move on and we made some lunch and took it all in. The fall colors were not as good as I was hoping for in the rest of the park but Oxbow had some still had some color. I'm not really sure which photo I like better, there is just something about the black and white photos that catch my eye.

A little further on down the road we saw a nice patch of trees with lots of color and a great backdrop. But still I am drawn to the black and whites. Either way I can not think of a more beautiful place to spend a fall day!

Canon 5d MarkII, Canon 17-40mm, SanDisk Digital Film.

The Grand Tetons

2009-10-19T11:34:00.006-04:00

On the 10th of October I flew out to Bozeman MT to start my week long photo and fly fishing trip of the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks. When I landed it was 19 degrees and starting to snow. Now I knew it was going to be cold this time of year but I was not expecting 19 degrees for the daytime high, and single digits for the night time lows. Camping was going to be nice and chilly! So after my friend Matt got into town I called the Yellowstone road hot line to find out the road conditions in the park, and the conditions were not good, snow tires required on all park roads. So we had to change our route and off to Jackson WY we headed down through West Yellowstone and into Idaho. From Idaho we took the Teton Pass into Jackson. The pass was a beautiful drive and we stopped at the top to get some photos. As you can see from the photo above the pass was covered with snow, and we hiked around to take in the sights. We then headed down into town grabbed a bit to eat then headed over to the National Forest by Shadow Mountain to find a place to camp. On our drive over to the forest the Tetons were not visible because of cloud cover, but we were hopeful that tomorrow would bring better weather and a chance to see the Tetons.It turned out to be a great morning! When we woke up we could see the Tetons off in the distance so we headed over to Schwabacher Landing to get some sunrise photos.

The sun shined through briefly to light up the peaks of the Tetons and give us some nice photos.

It was a great morning and we were excited to see what other treasures we could find in the park.

Canon 5D markII Canon 17-40mm, SanDisk Digital Film.

Woosterfest

2009-10-06T10:51:00.004-04:00

This past weekend was Woosterfest in Wooster Ohio. I finally got my act together and got a bunch of my photos printed and spent endless hours getting them all matted and framed to put on display for everyone to see. It was a lot of fun getting to talk with other people and seeing their enjoyment of my photos. Above are some photos of my setup. It was a great learning experience, and I am looking forward to doing another show!
I would like to thank my wife Julia for all her help and my dad for his help and letting me use his tent and tables, Thank you guys very much! Also a big thank you to everyone that stopped by to checkout my site. Thank You!

Neshannock Creek, PA

2009-07-16T10:54:00.002-04:00

Tuesday I got up dark and early to make the hour and a half drive over to Volant PA to do some fly fishing on the Neshannock Creek. It is a beautiful stream filled with some beautiful trout. It was a great day with landing 5 trout, 4 rainbow and one brown. I was nervous wading in the water over slippery rocks with my camera, but I really wanted to get some photos of the beautiful spots and colors of these fish. It was well worth the risk! I can't wait to get back over to PA and explore more of the many trout streams they have to offer!

Canon 30d, 60mm macro lens, SanDisk digital film.

Porcupine Mountains

2009-06-25T15:08:00.003-04:00

Last week I went on a backpacking hiking trip in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness up in the U.P. of MI. It was about a 13 hour drive from Apple Creek, and we got up there just in time to start hiking down the trail at 3am. I was with some old friends from high school, and we had a blast! The weather could not have been better. The worse part of the whole trip was all the damn mosquitoes and black flies, there must have been a billion of them. At time we could not even stop to rest because they were so thick. I counted 20 on my right hand alone at one point. By the end of the trip it looked like I had chicken pox with all the red bit marks. But the views made up for the pesky bugs. It was a beautiful place to hike and camp, the old growth forest was full of huge hemlocks and beautiful streams. I didn't get nearly as many photos as I would have liked but those bugs were just so annoying flying into my eyes and ears and anywhere else they could get. All in all it was a great trip!

Canon 30d, 10-22mm, sandisk digital film.

Mt. Scott

2009-04-05T21:12:00.003-04:00

After checking out all the wildlife, I took a drive up Mt. Scott. Which was pretty cool, I never really thought of Oklahoma as having mountains, but they do. The clouds were coming in and the wind was blowing hard on top of the 2,464 ft peak, which is the third highest in OK. It has some beautiful red granite boulders that I tried to use to frame the last two photos, which I did one in color and one in Black and white. I'm not sure which one I like better. Luckily I was able to finish taken photos just before the rain let loose.
Canon 5dMKII, Canon 17-40mm, Sandisk digital film

Wichita Mountian Wildlife Refuge

2009-04-05T20:33:00.003-04:00

This past week, I was working in Midwest City right outside of Oklahoma City. As usual I brought my camera, but didn't think I was going to get to find much interesting to photo. Well I had a down day on Wednesday while my soil samples were on their way to the lab. So I did some searching on Google and Google earth, which brought me to the Wichita Mountains wildlife refuge.
It was a little over an hour outside of Oklahoma city, and boy was i glad I made the trip. It was really cool driving down the road and seeing bison just roaming free. Some were in large herds like the two younger ones in the second photo, and others were just on their own. It was great to get out of the city and find these guys to watch.
Canon 5dMKII, Canon 300mm, TC 1.4x, Sandisk digital film

Another cool stop in the refuge was called Prairie Dog Town. There were so many prairie dogs there. It was cool watching them run around and look for food and pick on each other. They didn't seem to be bothered by people to much, however one in the bottom photo didn't care to have his photo taken.
Canon 5dMKII, Canon 300mm, TC 1.4x, Sandisk digital film.

North Pier Lighthouse

2009-03-15T21:57:00.003-04:00

This past week I was over working in Benton Harbor, MI which is on Lake Michigan. It was a very cold and long week! Even after working 12 hour days Terry and I still made it over to the lighthouse to shoot some photos. We were treated to two great sunsets with some great colors and clouds. Its funny how we did not complain about the cold while we were shooting but it was all we could talk about while we were working. This was also my first real chance to test out my new toy, the Canon 5D Mark II! The detail that you can get out of this 21 mega pixel beast is just amazing!

Canon 5D mk II, Canon 70-200mm, 17-40mm, Sandisk Digital film.

The Northwestern

2008-12-07T12:05:00.003-05:00

I went down to the harbor and saw that the Northwestern was at the dock. I haven't seen any of the crew in town so everyone must be at home for the holidays. It is pretty darn cool seeing these boats up close.

Back in Dutch Harbor

2008-12-04T13:00:00.002-05:00

I got into Dutch Harbor on Tuesday, after a bumpy flight. The weather is pretty nasty, low to mid thirties with 40 mph winds and rain. I have not had much time to get photos, it gets dark early this time of year. Last night I had a little time and a break in the weather to get this shot of the waves crashing ashore. It is good to be back.

Canon 30D, canon 10-22mm, Sandisk digital film.

Delicate Arch

2008-11-13T08:23:00.003-05:00

The hike out to Delicate arch is pretty easy, there is a little bit of an incline but not too bad. It is a very popular sunset spot and a lot of people head out there. While it was hard trying not to get people in the shot, I had to move around and try a capture the arch from different angles. Here I got a cool sun burst shinning from under the arch, which I thought made for a cool looking black and white photo.

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

Shafer Canyon

2008-11-13T08:17:00.003-05:00

Here is another pano that I have been working on. This spot is one of the coolest spots to take photos. It is a sweet 4x4 drive and you can sit there and watch the sun set all by yourself, which is not an easy thing to do at a national park.

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

Panos

2008-11-05T11:47:00.004-05:00

On this last trip out to UT I wanted to work on making some nice panoramic photos. The Arches and Canyonlands area is just so big that it is hard to capture it in a regular sized photo. This photo of Dead Horse point state park was made up of 8 shots, and used photoshops photomerge to stitch them together. In order to get the different photos to stitch together nicely you need to find the lenses nodal point. This is the point inside the lens where the light paths cross before being focused onto a sensor. By finding the nodal point of the lens and rotating the camera around this point you prevent the lens from warping or distorting the corners and sides of the image. There is always something new to learn and I can't wait to learn more about panos.

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

Shafer Canyon

2008-11-04T23:43:00.002-05:00

Saturday afternoon, I drove out to a less known spot over looking Shafer Canyon. It was a sweet 4X4 drive over huge rock covered, wash board, dirt roads. The clouds were looking really good, and the view was beautiful. I sat around taking in the views and waited for the sun to set. Once it started to set the sky broke out in spectacular colors. It was a great way to end a fantastic trip!

Canon 30D, canon 10-22mm, 17-40mm, sandisk digital film.

The North Window

2008-11-04T23:26:00.003-05:00

Friday night I camped out at the Devils Garden campground in Arches. What an awesome place to camp! The milky way ran across the sky from end to end, and the sand on the ground made a soft bed. I got up at 5am tore down the tent and headed off for the Windows. Hiking through the dark, I scrambled over some boulders and and up a ledge that looked through the North Window to Turret Arch and waited for the sun to rise. What a sunrise it was! Once the sun broke through the light just glowed off the North Window. What a morning it was!

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

Arches National Park

2008-11-02T02:02:00.003-05:00

Last night I made the hike out to Delicate Arch. What a sight that was, the formations out here are just out of this word!

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

Dead Horse Point

2008-11-02T01:58:00.002-04:00

Yesterday morning I went over to Dead Horse Point State Park to catch the sunrise, and what a sunrise it was. The views were spectacular to say the least.

Canon 30D, 10-22mm, Sandisk digital film.

Arches National Park

2008-10-31T00:52:00.004-04:00

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

2008-10-28T00:07:00.004-04:00

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

2008-10-25T22:31:00.004-04:00

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

2008-10-24T23:31:00.006-04:00

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

2008-10-24T00:12:00.003-04:00

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

2008-10-21T00:27:00.002-04:00

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

2008-08-06T20:39:00.002-04:00

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

2008-07-12T23:16:00.003-04:00

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

2008-06-29T22:35:00.003-04:00

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

2008-06-29T22:21:00.004-04:00

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

2008-06-29T21:51:00.005-04:00

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

2008-06-23T10:53:00.003-04:00

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

2008-06-23T10:34:00.003-04:00

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

2008-06-20T21:01:00.003-04:00

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

2008-06-17T17:41:00.004-04:00

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.

Soap Box Derby

2008-06-17T17:38:00.003-04:00

Saturday was the Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, All American Soap Box Derby, held on the straightest road the island has. The track is the only derby track with a curve. The kids were racing for the chance to go to Akron Ohio for the big race. The company I work for, Stantec, sponsored one of the local kids, Ethan, for the race and wouldn't you know it he ended up winning it all. Way to go Ethan!!

Life at the top

2008-06-14T10:07:00.003-04:00

Well after a week off island I am back up here, and boy has the weather been great! The wireless connection at the hotel on the other hand has not been so great! The other day I hiked up to the top of one of the mountains that overlook Dutch Harbor. The view from up there was great! The hike up was made a lot easier with all the snow that was still up there, I was able to get alot better footing. On the way down from the hike I ran into this angry gound squirrel that kept yelling at me.

Eagles

2008-06-02T11:23:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, the work crew and I went on a hike over to the other side of the island. It was a really nice hike and we had a good time. To our surprise when we got over to the other side we found a couple of old shacks. One of them were set up for a sauna that used a wood stove and water from the stream to make steam. After the hike I went looking for eagles, which was not hard at all!

Waterfalls

2008-05-31T18:12:00.003-04:00

Yesterday after work I went for a drive over to a waterfall that I have been to before. With all the snow melt, this waterfall was really moving. The high water made it interesting trying to hike up the side of it, which is really steep, and the rocks are really slippery. It was a great afternoon!

Otters

2008-05-30T15:29:00.004-04:00

Last night I headed out to Morris Cove. It was cold wet and rainy, but that didn't seem to bother these sea otters. There must have been at least 20 of them floating around eating. I made the hike down the cliff to the shore, I was sure they were going to swim off once I got close, but they didn't seem to mind me at all. Some of them even seem curious about me and floated up closer. With the tide being out I was able to get really close and watch them, but boy those rocks sure are slippery!

Canon 30D, Canon 300mm+1.4TC

Dutch Harbor

2008-05-29T11:40:00.003-04:00

Tuesday I arrived in Dutch, It was a really nice flight out and unusually clear. After work, I headed across the road from the hotel to take some pictures. This harbor seal let me get pretty close, it looked like he was too busy with dinner to worry about me. Last night was a wash out nothing but horizontal rain, no matter it was all you can eat king crab at the hotel.

Denali National Park

2008-05-27T04:47:00.002-04:00

Saturday I spent the day taking a shuttle bus into Denali National Park. What a ride that was, I saw all kinds of wildlife. The bus driver spotted this Lynx crossing the road and it only stuck around for a few seconds and then vanished in to the woods. Once I got a good ways into the park I got off the bus and did some hiking, that was when I found this Great Horned Owl nest with a couple of owlets. After I snapped some photos of them, I started hiking down the road waiting to get on the next shuttle bus that came by. Well when all the shuttle buses are full there is only one thing that you can do, and that is keep on walking and that is just what I did, hiked 10 miles out of the park. Most of the way I followed some bear tracks, heading in the same direction that I needed to go. Needless to say I was on the lookout for the bears that made these prints, but they were never seen. It was a great day, and I have so many photos to go through.

Ahhhh Alaska

2008-05-23T23:09:00.003-04:00

Ahhh.. Alaska, I got up here yesterday and was treated with getting to see all of Mt. McKinley!! It was one of the most beautiful sunsets that I have ever seen. Today I drove around Denali and did some hiking and ran into a bunch of Dall sheep. I love Alaska!!!!

Little Sable Lighthouse

2008-05-01T00:10:00.002-04:00

After work today, I headed down to Silver Lake state park to check out the Little Sable Lighthouse. It is just another one of many lighthouses along the Lake Michigan shoreline.
Canon 30D, Canon 17-40mm, Sandisk digital film.

Sleepy Bear Dunes

2008-04-26T23:26:00.003-04:00

I took a drive today up to Sleepy Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The weather was really cold and windy, but it made for some big waves on Lake Michigan. There were also many different species of waterfowl on some of the near by lakes.
Canon 30D, Canon 17-40mm, canon 300mm, SanDisk Digital film.

Big Sable Point Lighthouse

2008-04-24T23:08:00.002-04:00

Today I headed out to Ludington State park which has a really cool lighthouse. It was a nice 2 mile hike back to the 112 ft tall lighthouse. It was a great way to relax after a hard days work!
Canon 30D, canon 17-40mm, SanDisk digital film.

More Lighthouse

2008-04-23T23:47:00.003-04:00

OK so I didn't have much time after work to find a new place to take some photos, and it looked like it was going to be clear for sunset. So I went back down the street to the Ludington Lighthouse. One is before sunset and the other is after.
Canon 30D, Canon 70-200mm, Sandisk digital film.

Beautiful night for a sunset.

2008-04-22T23:05:00.003-04:00

After dinner, I made it back out to Ludington beach and walked out to the lighthouse, Which was pretty cool to see up close. After that I walked over to the beach to watch the sunset. There were a lot of seagulls and terns flying around, which were a lot of fun to shoot.
Canon 30D, Canon 17-40mm, Canon 300mm, Sandisk digital film.

Ludington, MI

2008-04-21T22:06:00.002-04:00

Today, I got up to Ludington MI for the start of two weeks of work. After dinner I made a quick trip over to the Lighthouse for a few quick shots. Hopefully tomorrow I can make it over in time to catch the sunset.
Canon 30D, 70-200mm, SanDisk digital film.

Smoky Mountains

2008-04-12T22:24:00.003-04:00

Well the weather finally broke for Sunday and it was a beautiful sunrise at the top of Clingmans Dome. After that I could not resist going and looking for some more salamanders, and you can not go around a corner without seeing a waterfall. It was a great trip and I can not wait to go back and spend more time there.
Canon 30D, canon 70-200mm, 17-40mm, 60mm, SanDisk digital film.

Great Smoky Mountains

2008-04-04T20:59:00.002-04:00

Well the work is done and now it's time to play, and I could not have picked a better place then the Smokies! It was a wet day, but I still had a great time. The rivers are just

beautiful, and make me wish that I had brought my fly rod. Can't wait to see more tomorrow!

Canon 30d, canon 17-40 and 60mm lens, SanDisk digital film.

Georgia Aquarium

2008-04-03T21:58:00.003-04:00

Today after work we had some time so we headed over to the Georgia Aquarium, which is one of the largest aquariums in the world. It was a lot of fun walking through, looking at all the sea life.
Canon 30D, 17-40mm, SanDisk digital film.

Georgia

2008-04-01T23:31:00.004-04:00

This week I have been working down in Georgia. After work today I headed up to the northern part of Georgia to check out the Appalachian trail. Along the way I stopped off at Helton Creek, which had a really cool waterfall.
Canon 30D, Canon 17-40mm, Sandisk digital film.

Death Valley National Park

2008-03-13T11:48:00.002-04:00

I've been out of town working for the last 2 weeks, and this past weekend I made a trip over to Death Valley National Park. It was a long two days with little sleep, staying up late and getting up at 4am to get sunrise shots of the sand dunes. It was nice to finally be in some 70 degree weather for a change!!
Canon 30D, canon 17-40mm and 70-200mm, on SanDisk digital film.

First Place

2008-02-24T18:17:00.003-05:00

Friday was the opening day for the 2008 Photo Arts Club of Toledo 23rd Annual Photo Contest, which I had entered 11 photos. I entered into two categories, Places and Black and White. I took 1st place in both categories and also got 2nd place in the places category. A list of the results can be found here. I was all smiles with 7 out of 11 photos placing! It was a great weekend, and I am so glad my parents were able to make it up to see them on display!
Happy Birthday MOM!!!

Second Place

2008-02-24T18:14:00.002-05:00

Here is the photo that I recieved second place on.

Honorable Mention

2008-02-24T18:04:00.003-05:00

Here are the photos that I recieved Honorable Mention for.

Lunar Eclipse

2008-02-21T22:45:00.002-05:00

Last night was a great night for the lunar eclipse, it was clear and cold, very cold. But I had a great time snapping away. I wanted to get pictures of the whole cycle so I could put together the last photo. Enjoy
Canon 30D, canon 300mm+1.4 tc+2x tc, Sandisk digital film.

Smithville Smithies

2008-01-28T21:47:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I went to my cousins basketball game and took some pictures of his last home game this year. It was a great game, with a long third quarter, which is best shown in the last picture. It was a lot of fun trying to get some good shots with some really bad lighting!

Canon 30D, canon 70-200 f4, Sandisk digital film.

Let it Snow

2007-12-16T16:27:00.000-05:00

Woke up this morning to a winter wonderland! So I braved the horrible roads to get a couple of pictures of a covered bridge at Wildwood metro park.
Canon 30D, Canon 17-40mm lens, SanDisk digital film.

Lake Michigan

2007-12-13T21:28:00.000-05:00

Monday I was up in Muskegon MI doing some work, and took some time to head over to the lake to see if I could get any sunset shots. Well it was very overcast and the sun did not come through, but I was able to get this shot of a fence that was up on the beach to block the sand from blowing over the handicap boardwalk.
Canon 30D, 17-40mm lens, SanDisk digital film.

Mohican State Park

2007-11-12T22:56:00.000-05:00

The other weekend while I went back home to my parents I stopped by one of my favorite places to go canoeing. I have been going to Mohican State Park since I was a little kid. We would go canoeing and then visit some family that live in the near by town of Loudinville. I still love going down there to either canoe, camp, hike, or fish. Its a great place to just get away for a while.
Canon 30D, 17-40mm lens, SanDisk digital film.

Marblehead Lighthouse

2007-11-11T01:07:00.000-05:00

Today I went for a drive over to East Harbor State Park and Marblehead Lighthouse. It was a beautiful day for taking pictures and I had a great time. I saw a bunch of Great Blue Herons and even found some deer. The sunset at the light house was really cool, it was a great way to end the day.
Canon 30D, 300mm + 1.4TC, 10-22mm, SanDisk digital film.

Photo Contest

2007-11-09T21:41:00.000-05:00

Tonight was the opening reception and exhibition for the photo contest at the National Center for Nature Photography at Secor Metropark here in Toledo. I submitted a few photos and the photo above got honorable mention. There were a lot of very cool and very nice photos entered. So I am really happy that one of my photos got honerable mention!!

Polychrome Overlook

2007-11-07T19:40:00.000-05:00

Here is a shot from my last trip to Alaska. I took the long bus ride back to Wonder Lake. While I did not get to see Denali because of low clouds I did get some very nice views of the lower mountains.

Horseshoe Bend

2007-11-07T19:31:00.000-05:00

Well I have been busy working and not busy posting. I have been going back through the photos from all the wonderful places I have been over the past two years and trying to get them all organized. Here is one from the summer of 2006 when my dad and I went out to Arizona to hike down into the Grand Canyon. The photo is from just outside of Page, it was a very nice sun rise.

Friday Night Lights

2007-10-20T00:07:00.001-04:00

Tonight I went to watch my cousins football game and snaped some photos. It was a close game and Beau did a great job as QB, but they could not pull of the upset and lost 7-0.
Good game Beau!!!
Canon 30D, canon 300 mm, SanDisk Digital film.

Star Trails

2007-10-19T00:51:00.001-04:00

This last weekend I was back home for my brothers wedding, man was it a busy weekend. It was also a clear weekend, so I tried my hand at taking star trail photos. I have a little to learn yet, but I was happy with the results. I hope it is clear this weekend as well so I can give it another try.

Canon 30D, Canon 17-40mm lens, SanaDisk digital film.

Treefrog

2007-10-07T11:48:00.000-04:00

Well I have been really busy as of late and have not been posting as many pictures as I would like. This is a photo from a couple of weeks ago down in IL. This guy was sitting next to one of the ponds that I check out because there is usually some kind of cool creature to take photos of. He was just sitting on a leaf and didn't mind having his picture taken.
Canon 30d, canon 60mm macro, SanDisk digital film.

Hocking Hills State Park

2007-09-09T20:38:00.000-04:00

Well, Julia and I just got back from a very fun weekend camping at Hocking Hills State Park in southern Ohio. It was a great trip and we did a lot of hiking all over the park to see all the cool geologic features. The first photo is of a window at the rock house, which is one of the many caves at the park. We also did some rappelling over at the state forest. This was the first time Julia has been rappelling and by the look on her face you can see she was a little nervous about that first step back. She did a great job and I was proud of her for giving it a try! I can't wait to get back down there!

Grizzly Bears

2007-09-03T20:36:00.000-04:00

Friday I spent the day on a Denali shuttle bus, which took me back to wonder lake. Along the beautiful bus ride I was lucky enough to have seen around 9 grizzlies, one of which was nice and close to the bus. The bears were busy munching on blueberries that were growing all over the place. It was a lot of fun getting to see these huge bears that close in the wild.
Canon 30D, canon 300mm, 1.4x TC, SanDisk digital film.

Touchdown

2007-08-28T11:30:00.000-04:00

I was out driving around last night and happen to catch this guy landing on top of the Russian orthodox church.
Canon 30D, canon 300mm, 1.4x tc, SanDisk digital film.

Waterfall

2007-08-27T11:24:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a pretty cloudy and wet day, I didn't do much but catch up on some rest, which was much needed. This picture is from last Sunday on my hike to the other side of the island. This was a pretty cool waterfall, I had to climb down a pretty steep cliff to get to it.
Canon 30D, canon 17-40mm, SanDisk digital film.

The view from work.

2007-08-25T19:45:00.000-04:00

Here is the view of the church that I see every day while I am working. I have driven by so many times saying "I need to get a shot of this" and so many times I have just driven on by saying tomorrow I'll get it. So I finally got it.

Canon 30D, canon 70-200mm, SanDisk digital film.

Lunch Time!

2007-08-25T13:17:00.001-04:00

The other day I drove by the river to see if the kingfisher was there, and sure enough he was! He was sitting on his little branch having lunch. The look on the little fishes face pretty much sums up what happened next.
Canon 30D, Canon 300mm, 1.4X TC, SanDisk digital film.

Little Priest Rock

2007-08-23T18:05:00.000-04:00

Didn't do much shooting last night, I ate way too much at the all you can eat king crab and seafood buffet, and didn't feel like hiking around after. So I stopped at this place which I drive by almost every night on my way out to summers bay.

Canon 30D. canon 17-40mm, SanDisk digital film.

Shipwrecked

2007-08-22T17:12:00.000-04:00

I got these two pictures last night after my hike. I was on my way back to the hotel when I saw this boat laying on its side on the ground. I thought it looked pretty cool with the way the clouds were looking all gloomy in the background. The other photo is what is left of an old dock from back during WWII, there is a bunch of old WWII buildings around that area.
Canon 30D, canon 70-200mm, SanDisk digital film.

Globe of Dutch Harbor

2007-08-22T12:17:00.000-04:00

So last night after work, I decided to go for a hike to get my blood flowing a little. I have been wanting to hike to the top of this mountain that over looks Dutch Harbor, to get some panoramas, for some time now, but the last time I was here it was still covered with snow. But yesterday was a beautiful day so I set off up this big hill trying to reach the top. When I reached the top I was greeting with a sweet view of Dutch Harbor. In one of my photo magazines there was an article on taking a 360 degree pano and then making a global view with it in Photoshop. So i took a 360 pano and gave it a try, and this is what I came up with. I think it is a cool and different view of the island.

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

Morris Cove & Dutch Harbor

2007-08-21T17:43:00.000-04:00

Here is a picture from Morris Cove from last night. I could not believe how bright the algae were on the rocks. The other picture is from the night before, as I was out watching the puffins the clouds broke and the sun shined down on Dutch Harbor.
Canon 30D, Canon 10-22mm, and 70-200mm, SanDisk digital film.

More Wildflowers

2007-08-20T20:37:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I had the day off, my only day off, so I decided to go on a hike to the other side of the island. The weather was beautiful and there were a ton of wildflowers out along the way. Here are a few of the flowers that I saw.
Canon 30D, Canon 60mm macro, SandDisk digital film

Puffins and Kingfishers

2007-08-18T13:09:00.000-04:00

Yesterday after work the weather was not the best, there were very low clouds and it was misting and raining on and off. I went back out to my favorite puffin spot and sure enough there were a dozen puffins floating right off shore. I just watched them float around and dive for fish for fifteen minutes or so until they started to take fight. It looked like they were taking off for open water but they circled back around and started landing on the cliff above me. It was funny watching them circle the cliff looking for a place to land. Some of them would land and take right back off. I don't know why but these birds really fascinate me, they are a lot of fun to watch. After a while they all took off to feed on some fish out on the harbor. On my way back to the hotel I stopped by the Iliuliuk River to a bush where I have seen a Belted Kingfisher hang out. I had only seen him there once before and have stopped by there many times since then to see if he was there, but with no luck. To my surprise there he was sitting on a branch of a bush, and I was able to pull up right beside him in the truck and get a few shots.

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

The Deadliest Catch

2007-08-18T13:01:00.000-04:00

When I arrived the Maverick was sitting at the Delta Western dock in Dutch Harbor just down from the job site. It was at the dock for a couple of days before it went back out to sea.

Dutch Harbor

2007-08-17T20:40:00.000-04:00

I saw this photo of Dutch Harbor on my way back to the hotel,the sun was getting low ready to set and it cast a nice yellow glow on the water. The hotel that I am staying in is located right above the boat on the other side of the island.
Canon 30D, canon 70-200mm, SanDisk digital film.

Salmon Berries

2007-08-17T20:32:00.000-04:00

While I am out hiking around the island I never have to worry about getting hungry. There are so many of these salmon berry bushes, with huge salmon berries growing on them. I have gorged myself on them to the point that I could not even look at them for the rest of the day!

Canon 30D, 60mm, SanDisk digital film.

Sea Urchins

2007-08-17T20:26:00.000-04:00

Here are some photos of sea urchins that I found while walking on the beach. Some of them are really colorful while some of them are a bit less than colorful.

Canon 30D, canon 60mm lens, SanDisk digital film.

Wildflowers

2007-08-16T18:37:00.000-04:00

Wildflowers are growing all over the place up here, and there are so many different kinds and colors. Here are just a few of what I have found so far.
Canon 30D, canon 60mm macro, SanDisk digital film.

More Puffins

2007-08-16T18:29:00.000-04:00

I went back to were the Puffins like to hang out last night to see if they were still there, sure enough they still were. Here are a few more shots that I got of them, they are really cool to watch!

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

Horned Puffins

2007-08-15T21:22:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was beautiful up here in Dutch Harbor, sunny and in the 60's. After work I went out in search of some puffins, I had seen some swimming off in the harbor the day before and wanted to try and get some photos. I was driving out to Summers Bay when I saw some puffins swimming out in the water, I grabbed my binoculars and started to watch them. They were Horned Puffins, there were about 6 of them floating and diving in the water. They were too far out for me to get any photos of so I was just watching them for 5 or 10 min. Two of them started running in the water, when they got enough speed they left the water and flew into the air right toward me. I could not believe it they were coming right at me, I quickly put the truck in park and grabbed my camera and got out of the truck. They looked like they were going to land the the cliff right above me next to the road. But just before they went to land on the cliff, they changed their minds and flew off toward the water. They made a big circle out over the water and started to head back toward the cliff. I got my camera ready and got one sighted up and started firing. They didn't land this time either, they flew back out toward the water and circled again. They did this four or five times before one of them finally landed on the cliff. I crossed the road as far as I could so I could see up the rocky cliff, but the road drops 20 or 30 feet onto the rocky shore. So I was just on the edge of the road trying to find where this Puffin had landed, but I could not see him. Before too long I saw his bright yellow and red bill peek out from the rocks. He wanted to see what I was up too down below. He stood there and watched me for some time. After a little while the other puffin came in for a landing and they just both stood there watching me until a huge raven came by and flushed them out. I was really excited to finally see some puffins this close.
Photo captured on Canon 30D, Canon 300mm lens, 1.4X TC on SanDisk digital film.

Byron Glacier

2007-08-12T13:26:00.000-04:00

Well I got back in Alaska last night and thought I would post a shot that I took last night while i was driving around. Julia and I hiked back to this glacier back in May, but there was a bunch of snow on the ground, and not much else to look at. Canon 30D, canon 17-40mm lens and SanDisk digital film.

4th of July

2007-07-05T00:46:00.001-04:00

Happy 4th of July! Today I spent the day working down here in Lawrenceville IL, which was not my ideal way to spend the 4th. However after work and several storms the skys cleared up just long enough for the town of Vincennes fireworks. They took place at the George Rogers Clark National Historical Park which is a huge monument and pillars made from granite. After the fireworks mother nature put on a little lights display of her own which followed by pouring rain and me running back to the car. Canon XT, Canon 10-22mm lens, SanDisk Digital film

Illinois

2007-06-27T23:21:00.000-04:00

For the past two weeks I have been down here is lovely Lawrenceville Illinois. Now that we are doing low-flow sampling down here I had some extra time to get some dragonfly photos. While looking up what dragonflies I had, I read that the Green Darner can reach speeds of 55 mph. I liked the photo of the Eastern Pondhawk, because it looked like he was smiling at me. Canon XT, Canon 17-40mm lens, SanDisk digital film.

Georgia

2007-06-27T22:55:00.000-04:00

Well I have been pretty busy with work, but I've managed to find some time to shoot some photos. While I was down in Georgia working I made a little road trip up to Amicalola Falls state park. It is a very cool state park and is also the southern terminus of the 2160 mile Appalachian Trial. I was very tempted to start my little walk! The first photo is of the fall itself, which is 729 foot tall. The other photo was taken on down the river. Canon XT, canon 17-40mm lens, SanDisk digital film.

Bald Eagles

2007-06-07T23:44:00.000-04:00

There were so many Bald Eagles up in Dutch Harbor, I could not believe how many there were. There were more eagles then we have robins here in OH. I spent a lot of time out trying to get some nice flight shots, which was not easy. The shots I got were either blurry or out of focus, but with all the eagles I had a lot of chances to get some keepers.
Canon XT, Canon 300mm lens & 1.4TC, with SanDisk UltraII digital Film.

Bishop's House

2007-05-30T14:56:00.000-04:00

Here are a couple of photos from next to the Russian Orthodox Cathedral at the Bishop's House. It was built in 1882 in San Francisco and reassembled in Unalaska.

Canon XT, Canon 17-40mm lens, with SanDisk Ultra II digital film.