September Begins

Let the pictures from September 2010 begin!

yikes, my editing is so far behind!

Back in early/mid September, dma & I went to the Sunrise area of Mt. Ranier. It was pretty cool... I have only visited the Paradise side, so it was nice to see something new. Too bad the weather wasn't cooperating... it was a gloomy, cloudy day. Sad! There were remnants of wild flowers all over, so I know where to go this August, eh? I managed to capture a few botanical gems. ...

Thanks for taking a look! It will probably be a little while until I post again... I am headed out on a roadtrip! I am looking forward to some pretty dang awesome destinations!

NPS 3: The Glacier Survey

Ta-daaaaa.... my last round of NPS 3 pics!!!! These were taken on the way back from Yellowstone when we took a quick survey of Glacier National Park. I am completely in love with Glacier; the mountains, the sky, the colors, the textures, the animals, the flowers... aaaaah.

We entered from the east side, via the St. Mary's entrance, and spent the first night exploring the east side of the park (just to Logan Pass) and squeezed in a bit of star trailing, too. Then we stayed in the creepiest place to date (brrr, just got the chills from thinking about it!) But, it came equipped with electricity, a decent heater & hot water, so it was at least a notch above the Sentra ;)

The next day, we got coffee at the bootsy hotel coffee bar then took the Going to the Sun road in reverse, so, Going from the Sun road? We stopped here & there at whatever caught our eye. I really, really want to go back there... the hiking opportunities seem amazing!

The Vistas

The Night Sky (so many planes!!)

The Wildlife

The Little Things

And that is about it! NPS 3 is wrapped up, just in time for NPS 4 next week!!!

Thanks for taking a look & hope that you are having a beautiful day!

Day 4: Teeny Tiny Yellowstone

Memories.
so.
hazy.

I can't exactly remember the details of this day... we started the day in a "rustic" cabin in the northern part of Yellowstone (and by "rustic" I mean no indoor bathroom, limited furnishings and PAPER thin walls, oh gosh, we could actually hear our neighbors zipping up their luggage!) Well, then we grabbed some coffee from the hotel lobby & hit the road. Did we go near or far? I can't remember now... Note to self: take notes for goodness sake.

What do I remember? It was a blazingly sunny day. blazing. And, well, I know my limits, and I absolutely cannot take a landscape at high noon. The question is, is my lack of skill or my lack of interest in contrasty lighting? Not sure. A stubborn mental block?

One of our stops for the day was the Minerva Terrace. It was fun to explore the trails near this geological marvel, but it would have been *even* cooler if there was some water pooled up!!! Anyway, the picture below is a representative image of the terrace. The whole thing looks similar to this scene...

Even with the sharp, sharp lighting, I was determined to not pass up a day of shooting in the park. So, being me, I pointed my camera down & found some interesting scenes. Given the grand scale of Yellowstone, these images are absolutely teeny tiny. And, in some respects may seem to "be a waste" of such an epic locale; however, these are real scenes of Yellowstone, right? It may not be an expansive vista, but why place value only on grandeur?

These are a few things that caught my eye...

As always, thanks so much for taking a look! I still have one more set of images to edit... just the pics from Glacier! I better hurry, eh, NPS 4 will be here before I know it ;)

Day 3: NPS Jumblerama

Alriiiight, more pics from NPS 3, the awesome, late summer adventure of 2010 to Yellowstone & Glacier with my best friend everrrrrr!!

These are a mix of pics... I am sleepy & too tired to organize them at this time. The overview of the day, though, is that we started with sunrise along firehole drive. It was so cool... we heard wolves! Then we wandered over toward Old Faithful (probably for a bathroom break) and figured we would stay for the show. And then we drove around a lot. Eventually, we ended up at Tower Falls. Dang, I was glad to have a long lens at that spot... the falls were so far away! Plus, there were a million and one people there. I counted. there were a million. and one.

And thats a wrap! Thanks for taking a look at these pics!

Day... 2?

On NPS 1, in the fall of 2009, DMA and I couldn't make it to the east side of Yellowstone due to a wild fire. So, for this trip, we made it a point to make the Yellowstone Canyon our first destination. All I can say is So.... Beautiful! We arrived at sunset to scout out a spot & started night shooting! The pic below was taken at around 9:30 pm; I thought that I captured airplane trail in the sky, but after taking a closer look, it turns out to actually be a star trail! The cliffside is illuminated by moonlight. Pretty cool, eh? Sunrise was wonderful. It was misty, and cold, and it just felt amazing to be perched so high and be able to watch the canyon walls emerge from the darkness.

Nothing like a nice sunrise, eh? The picture below is my unedited, "before" shot...

... and this is my attempt to make the sunrise pop a bit. Aaaah... thats more like what I remember!

After the night of sleeping in the car & frigid morning, we found some warm coffee. yum.

We continued our journey around the canyon & found some rapids. I, of course, focused on the smallest part of the scene... the spray coming from the crashing water.

Oh, and then I looked up and noticed these glorious sun rays...

By high noon we were on the other side of the canyon... what a difference lighting makes! This view of the falls is so contrasty and sharp compared to dreamy softness of the sunrise.

On NPS 1, we also couldn't make it to the north side of Yellowstone Lake, so, guess where we went next.... yup. Yellowstone Lake. The image below is of the Abyss Pool... or actually, I think it is Black Pool, even though it isn't black. The colors are beyond amazing. Who knew bacteria could be so... pretty?

My memory is a bit fuzzy... I think after this point we headed into West Yellowstone... home of the BEST bison burger (check out Bullwinkles if you are ever in the area!)

Man, I love the NPS trips... looking forward to continuing the edits of my other pics from the trip!

NPS 3: Roadside Tranquility

Day one... packed up the Sentra & hit the open road... Montana bound!

Oh wait... dude, where's my wallet?

In typical lori fashion, I left it in the KFC/Pizza Hut/Whatever-placed-we-stopped-at's bathroom. So, instead of a quick Day One drive to Montana, dma and I spent Day One of NPS 3 backtracking to the Tri-Cities. OH MY!!! Well, we made the best of things & had a nice drive around the Palouse. Or maybe I took these while I was blissfully unaware of my lost wallet when I took these pictures? Or maybe these were taken the *next* day, after my lost wallet was safe & sound? (note to self... stop being so vague & edit in a timely manner, damn it! 7 1/2 months is too long!)

So, anyway, sometime back in August, on the way to Yellowstone for NPS 3, DMA and I stopped at this spot to take some pics. (Thats my little Sentra.... aaaah yeah). I was captivated by these whispy weeds...

Tranquil, yes?

Along the way, we also stopped at Palouse Falls. I took a few pictures of the nearby flora and fauna (insectna?)

We also found a random, side of the road cemetary. We stopped in for a stroll & to pay our respects. The line of trees in the photo below outline the perimeter of the cemetary.

I think it was the *next* day that we made it to Yellowstone. We found a lookout that was a bit overgrown, but had some cool artifacts!! (can you hear the wind whistling? Old West style...)

The picture of the stream below is still in progress. This is what I have so far, but I am a little bit stumped on how I want to edit it. So far, I have only cropped in & removed a few dust spots. Hmmm, we'll see if I stumble upon some inspiration soon!

And our final destination: the Yellowsone Canyon. We arrived just at sunset & ended up car camping in the parking lot. It was cold, bitterly bitterly cold, but the morning sunrise was completly worth it. Hopefully I will be able to edit those soon, too!

Thanks for taking a look! Hope all is well in your neck of the woods ;)