Monthly Archives: March 2022

March 31, 2022 · 4:04 am

It’s Throwback Thursday!

It’s #ThrowbackThursday , so I thought I’d post an image captured by my father of Mom, my two sisters, and me in Grand Canyon National Park back in the early 1960’s. Note the cameras hanging around my sisters’ necks, my mother’s handbag, and me in my little dress – very fashionable for a national park visit back then. I must have been 2 or 3 years old at the time.

I’m trying to figure out what part of the park we were in for this shot, since it appears to be down by the river? I *know* good and well we did not hike all the way down there. Our fashion for the day precluded any boots with good tread and doesn’t look like we were carrying any water with us. Maybe this is just a stream and not the Colorado River.

I don’t remember anything at all about this trip. Of course, who does at that age – except for maybe an exceptional few who remember stuff at a very early age? Mom was scared half to death I might fall over the side of the canyon, so she usually kept a deathly-tight grip on my little hand and never once let me go near the edge to see the view. So I guess you could say my first *real* view of the Grand Canyon was when I visited it on my own back in 2009.

I’m awfully glad my parents loved to travel and loved the national parks. They passed that love of travel, photography, the parks, and being outdoors on to me.

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Filed under family, Grand Canyon National Park, National Parks, Photography

Tagged as 1960s, family, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, National Park, photography, Throwback Thursday, where the trails take you

March 29, 2022 · 6:24 am

A Slap is A Punch is A Murder is An Invasion

Life In The Boomer Lane is one of my favorite blog sites. And this particular post mirrors my thoughts exactly!

Life in the Boomer Lane

Life in the Boomer Lane hopes she isn’t beating a dead horse. Dead horses have been beaten far too much lately.

We know that we live in a violent world. We live in a world in which human life is valued only until it gets in the way of what someone wants. We watch the latest atrocities splayed across our TV screens, showing cities crumbling and countless people dying. It is happening solely because one man who already has unlimited money and power believes that he was meant to have more. It is atrocity in the name of national will.

We know that we live in a violent country. We Americans have raised murder to a high art. Every time a person dies of gun violence, the only result is that more guns are sold. We already own more guns than any other country on the planet. It is…

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March 29, 2022 · 6:17 am

It’s Trivia Tuesday 3-29-2022!

*Old Faithful erupting at Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park*

*Heart Spring in the foreground and the Lion Group of geysers in the background at Upper Geyser Basin*

*The scalloped edges of Doublet Pool at Upper Geyser Basin*

*A bright bacterial mat leading toward a hot spring at Biscuit Basin.*

It’s #TriviaTuesday Folks! So, how many of you have ever visited one of the geyser basins in Yellowstone National Park, marveling at the colorful hot springs and the energetic geysers? Do you know how to tell if what you are looking at is a geyser or hot spring (if there is no sign to identify it)? Especially if a geyser, when not erupting, looks like a hot spring?

According to a cool little video on the NPS site for Yellowstone, you should look at the edges of a thermal feature. “Hot springs often have ledges or walls of sinter (silica deposits) around them, because as the water level fluctuates, it leaves behind silica deposits. The edges may even be scalloped or lacy, such as what you see when looking at Doublet Pool in Upper Geyser Basin.

“Beadwork,” or pebbly-looking sinter indicates a geyser. “As the water splashes with each eruption, it deposits silica, creating a bumpy appearance.” At some geysers that look like hot springs, you’ll notice rounded, riverstone-like pebbles beneath the water. These rounded stones are called “geyser eggs” and are formed by silica deposition and water movement.

Colorful orange and yellow bacterial mats are also good indicators of hot springs, since that means the water is warm enough for thermophilic (heat-loving) bacteria to thrive, but not hot enough to be a geyser.

The thing is, the landscape beneath and above Yellowstone is always changing. Excelsior Crater Geyser used to be a geyser, and is now a hot spring – well, it’s a hot spring right now that hasn’t erupted in several decades, but it could become a geyser again if the conditions change.

And now, you are that much smarter for the day.

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Filed under National Parks, Photography, Trivia Tuesday, Yellowstone National Park

Tagged as fun facts, geology, geyser, hot spring, learning, National Park, photography, trivia, Trivia Tuesday, where the trails take you, Yellowstone, Yellowstone National Park

March 27, 2022 · 7:09 am

The Yin And Yang Of Castle Geyser In Yellowstone National Park

Back in 2021, I wrote an article for the National Parks Traveler about finding the yin and yang of an image.

To read that article, click on the image above.

In such images, you’ll see a sort of half-and-half of color, or light, or texture, or something else that engenders the thought of yin/yang: “two complimentary forces making up all aspects and phenomena of life.”

To be honest, I don’t always look for that. It just sort of comes up accidentally, so that when I edit the image on my computer, I only then notice those “two complimentary forces.” Seems that when I look for yin/yang, I don’t find it, but it pops up when I am least expecting it. Sort of like everything else in life, I suppose.

Anyway, it was a cold, very steamy winter morning walking along the snow-and-ice-covered boardwalk looking toward Castle Geyser. I was trying to suss out whether it had already erupted (possible), was in its eruptive stage (no), or was simply steaming heavily due to the frigid temp of the morning (most likely). It was past 9:00 a.m. Mountain Time. The sun had moved over to the right side of the image, out of the composition, shining a yellowish light onto the right side of the image, while the left side was still sort of in a blue shadow stage.

Moral of the story is that you can look and look for something – like yin/yang – and not find it until it pops up on its own, after the fact – like after you’ve pushed down on the shutter button.

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Tagged as Castle Geyser, complementary forces, duality, geyser, morning, National Park, photography, where the trails take you, winter, Yellowstone, Yellowstone National Park, yin and yang, yinyang

March 26, 2022 · 5:46 am

Alien Crash Site? Or Just A Little Hot Spring At Upper Geyser Basin?

This is just a close shot of a very small hot spring (maybe 3 feet in diameter, including the melted ground around it) I saw while walking on the boardwalks at Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park one freezing February morning. It was a pretty thing, all bright and distinct against the white snow, and it reminded me of a favorite old 1950’s sci fi movie I watch all the time on my iPad when traveling (I listen to movies while editing photos). Anybody ever seen “The Thing From Another World?” Not the one with Kurt Russell, but the 1951 black-and-white version? To me, that’s a classic. The timing and overlapping of the dialog, the whole black-and-white scenario. I love it. Oh, the special effects are laughable, but I still like it way better than the 1982 film. Maybe it’s an age thing, but to me, the old movies are classics and always will be.

Anyway, where is this going, you may ask? Well, in the 1951 version, at one point, the plane with the scientists and the Airforce personnel are flying over the alien’s frozen-over crash spot, and it looks exactly like this little hot spring’s configuration right here. As a matter of fact, when I spotted this thermal spring, it was the first thing that popped into my head.

So, sometimes, you may photograph the things you see because they remind you of something else, right?

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Filed under Geology, National Parks, Photography, Yellowstone National Park

Tagged as a7r4, a7rIV, black-and-white movie, February, hot spring, mirrorless, National Park, old movie, photography, sci fi, Sony, Sony Alpha, thermal spring, upper geyser basin, where the trails take you, winter, Yellowstone National Park

March 25, 2022 · 4:15 am

A Good Photo Should Evoke An Emotion, Feeling, Or Memory

*Cold And Windswept, Yellowstone National Park*

I had driven along the length of the Lamar Valley, then the road curved and headed more northerly, toward Cooke City. I’d already stopped and photographed Soda Butte (you can see it way in the distance a little left of center of this image), but decided to pull over again for a more wide-angle landscape.

Now, this image is nothing spectacular, although I think it’s pretty enough, and I (of course) like it. This image is more of an example of how a photograph can (and should) evoke some sort of emotion, memory, or feeling. That’s the hallmark of a good image, actually. Doesn’t have to be stunning to do that. When I look at this shot, I feel downright cold because I remember just how cold it was that day. I see the dry powder snow blown across the road by the freezing wind that chapped my cold hands. The day had a blue cast to it because it wasn’t a very bright day. The sun was hidden above angry clouds that turned into a winter snow storm later in the evening. The mountains were blue because they usually look blue in winter photos, don’t they? This shot shows that it’s a frigid winter in Yellowstone.

Scene shot with a Sony a7riv (a7r4) and Sony 24-105mm lens.

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Filed under National Parks, Photography, Sony Alpha a7r IV, Yellowstone National Park

Tagged as 24-105mm, a7r4, a7rIV, Alpha, cold, evoking a feeling, February, freezing, Lamar Valley, National Park, photography, snow, Sony, winter, Yellowstone, Yellowstone National Park

March 22, 2022 · 4:25 am

Trivia Tuesday And Photography In The National Parks: Traveling Along The Lewis And Clark National Historic Trail – Part 2

*Going up the switchbacks on the Beacon Rock Trail*

*Savoring a view of the Columbia River landscape while hiking up Beacon Rock*

It’s #TriviaTuesday ! How many of you have ever hiked up Beacon Rock at Beacon Rock State Park in Washington state? It’s a park found right along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail on the Washington side of the Columbia River. The park is centered around an eroded volcanic plug of a volcano that erupted about 57,000 years ago and where Captain William Clark first noticed the tidal influence of the Pacific Ocean (although it’s not really very noticeable now).

Beacon Rock and what you can see and photograph is the subject of my continuing photo column about traveling the Washington side of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, which has been published in today’s edition of the National Parks Traveler.

To read the article, click on any one of the images above.

I never thought I’d be writing and photographing something for the Traveler about this state park because – well – state vs. national park, right? But I should know better. State parks work together with national parks quite often. Just think about Redwood National and State Parks in California.

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Filed under National Parks Traveler, Photography, Photography In The National Parks, State Parks, Washington State

Tagged as Beacon Rock, Beacon Rock State Park, eroded volcano, hiking, Hiking Trail, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, national historic trail, National Parks Traveler, photography, Photography In The National Parks, switchbacks, volcano, Washington, Washington State, where the trails take you

March 18, 2022 · 3:54 am

Same Park, Same Spot, Different Season, Different Camera

*A 2022 winter morning view of the landscape between Hellroaring Trailhead and Tower-Roosevelt Junction in Yellowstone National Park*

*A 2018 summer view of the landscape between Hellroaring Trailhead and Tower-Roosevelt Junction in Yellowstone National Park*

Yeah, yeah, I know – another one of those posts? Well, why not! Besides, I happened to be in the same spots (deliberately) in Yellowstone so I could capture similar shots. Granted, the cameras are different and the focal distance is different, too. With the winter shot, I used a focal length analogous to 48mm, and with the summer shot, I used a focal length of 70mm, so there’s a slight difference in the amount of landscape you are seeing. I tried cropping the winter shot so that it was a little bit closer to the view of the summer shot.

This may be a similar shot, but with the weather conditions / season you can see how visiting the same spot can yield different results to make it look almost like a completely different landscape.

This location is going downhill on what is known as the Grand Loop Road in Yellowstone National Park. It’s between Hellroaring Trailhead and Tower-Roosevelt Junction. Since it’s Fun Fact Friday when I post this, here’s a bit of trivia for you:

During the summer and warmer days, in general, there are more water molecules in the air. During the winter (cold temps aside), there are far fewer water molecules, which is why it generally feels much drier, your hands and lips get chapped easier, and your photos are much clearer. Aside from the differences in camera resolution, this is why the winter shot here seems to be “crisper” than the summer shot, which appears softer due (at least in part) to the sort of “smoggy” morning with all those steam and summer water molecules in the air.

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Filed under Fun Fact Friday, National Parks, Photography, Seasons, Yellowstone National Park

Tagged as Canon 5DSR, Fujifilm GFX 100S, Fun Fact Friday, National Park, photography, seasons, summer, where the trails take you, winter, Yellowstone, Yellowstone National Park

March 17, 2022 · 5:54 am

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

Here’s a fun fact for you (nothing to do with St. Paddy): that green you see in this image is thermophilic (heat-loving) algae. And it’s a red algae called Cyanidium that doesn’t have the pigment for the color red. So it’s green. You can see this in Porcelain Basin at Yellowstone National Park.

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Tagged as algae, Cyanidium, green, nature, Porcelain Basin, St. Patrick's Day, thermophilic, Yellowstone National Park

March 17, 2022 · 3:29 am

Photography In The National Parks: Yellowstone In Winter

*Paw Prints On The Shallow Terrace Surface At Midway Basin, Yellowstone National Park*

The National Parks Traveler has published my latest photo column. It’s all about photographing Yellowstone National Park in winter. If you are planning a winter trip to this national park, yourself and are taking your camera, or if you just want to look at pretty winter photos of this park, then click on the image above to be taken to the article.

As for this image here, it was taken during a snowcoach tour with four other people. Our first stop was at Midway Geyser Basin (where Grand Prismatic is located) and we had the entire place to ourselves. It was wonderful! During our walk along the snowy, mainly ice-encrusted boardwalk, we saw different hoof and paw prints on the milky white surface of the shallow terraces. This wide-angle shot shows a set of clearly-defined paw prints on the terrace and the steamy landscape in the distance. It’s actually one of my favorite shots from the entire trip.

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Tagged as National Park, National Parks Traveler, photography, Photography In The National Parks, where the trails take you, winter, Yellowstone, Yellowstone National Park