Archive for February, 2011

Yellowstone: Day 3

Monday, February 28th, 2011

Today was a snow storm. There was so much snow and wind that it felt like a snow hurricane. At certain times we couldn’t even see the road. This also meant that we didn’t see that much wildlife. Still no sightings of wolves but we saw plenty of other animals. There were a lot of buffalos hanging out in the snow, hunkering down for the storm.

We also had a couple of coyotes run across the road in front of us.

The big horn sheep were out again in their usual spot by the rocky outcroppings. We saw some bulls and some juveniles.

We also we able to get some shots of the pronghorn antelopes as we were leaving the park. They are one of my favorite animals in the park because of their majestic beauty. They are beautiful animals with good markings, ig black eyes, and little horns. There is something so beautiful about them that I find so enticing.

It was too windy and snowy to go snow shoeing but it was still a good day. We are hoping for better weather and always more wolves. Hoping for a better tomorrow.

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Posted in Photos, Travel Updates |

Yellowstone: Day 2

Sunday, February 27th, 2011

Today was the first day of our real expedition. We headed out in sub-zero temperature in search of the wildlife and beauty that Yellowstone has to offer. We started out early and headed into the park. We got to see some more elk at Mammoth Hot Springs, one of which was nursing.

Then we started out on our long days journey to Lamar Valley. We saw all sorts of animals including coyotes, bison, elk, bald eagles, and big horns. However most of them were to far away to get actually decent photos of them. The big horns however decided to cooperate with us and get close enough to photo graph as they ate their lunch.

After that my dad and i went snowshoeing into a canyon at Pebble Creek. It was beautiful, with high stony walls, snow hatted rocks and a partially frozen river.

Due to fear that we may have been very close to encroaching upon a bear den we decided to take the safe route and return to our car for lunch. After that we headed out to see if the otters from last year were still in their same spot. Sadly we saw no otters today but hope to see them soon.

It was a beautiful day but the wildlife wasn’t super active. I am hoping for more activity tomorrow and hopefully some wolves. For now it was just another beautiful day in Yellowstone.

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Posted in Photos, Travel Updates |

Yellowstone: Day 1

Saturday, February 26th, 2011

Today my dad and I arrived in Yellowstone in -20 degree weather. Yes, it was that cold. I have never been so cold in my life, and there is probably a week more of this weather in my future. Anyways, we headed down to Gardiner Montana after landing in Bozeman. It is a winter wonderland here, there is snow everywhere. AS we pulled into Mammoth Hot springs it was snowing and incredibly windy. My face still feels wind burned…

We did see a little bit of wildlife just with our quick peak in the park. I spotted some big horned sheep grazing on a ridge. There was a baby and it’s family all running around in the snow.

We also had a few run ins with a little rabbit as we walked around in the cold.

Funny little critter and good practice to get back into taking wildlife photography. No wolves to be seen yet but we are hopeful. There have been plenty of sightings. Tomorrow we are going snowshoeing and photographing. I will put up more photos tomorrow!!

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Posted in Photos, Travel Updates |

Yellowstone Take Two

Friday, February 25th, 2011

As many of you know last year I spent a week in Yellowstone following wolves and taking photos. I am blessed to yet again have this amazing opportunity to explore the harsh wild wilderness that is the Yellowstone tundra. The next week I will be in the Northern part of the park photographing animals and landscape.

I haven’t been posting as often this month because I have been so busy with preparations. After this is over I am going to go back to posting regularly. Hopefully each day I will have time to post some of my pictures from my adventures of that day. Last year I couldn’t because we were so busy, but hopefully this year I can. I can’t wait to return to Yellowstone. Hopefully this year I will get some really good wolf shots!

See you all in a week.

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Posted in Travel Updates |

Dead Beauty

Monday, February 21st, 2011

It is always the most interesting type of beauty that can be found within the dead and withered objects. The things you believe are beyond the beauty of life and have passed over into a place where only death is. Often, however, it seems that these dead things carry their own beauty. A distinct majesty from the living beauty that stands far a part from any normal type of beauty. It seems there is even beauty in death. The withered and the dying, a beauty that is not from a world we can fully understand. Instead, a beauty that awaits us for a certain time and until then we can not fully understand this withered and dead beauty, just what it could mean.

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Posted in Photos, Thoughts |

Creeper Photo: Two Worlds

Friday, February 18th, 2011

There is another world at my fingertips
So solid and real yet non-existent
No matter how far you dig
The opposing hands seem
Just beyond reach
A drowning sibling
Too far for contact
With this other world
At times you see each other
In the glimpse of a shadow
Out of the corner o your eye
In the slight reflection
Of a dirty decaying mirror
Hiding in the corner
Of an old attic room
Immersed in a dark pool of water
With the shimmering image
Of this world
There one moment
But lost in the disturbances
Of the world we find ourselves in now
You wait for these fleeting meetings
Between you and your other self
Whom you never knew
Except for those evanescent glances
Into a ghostly world
Were two were almost one

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Posted in Candid Photography, Photos, Poetry |

Vines

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

It seems there are windows hidden in all sorts of places. Windows to what, is the question.

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Travel Update: Napa Part 2

Wednesday, February 9th, 2011

Part two of our Napa adventure included the most amazing thing I saw all weekend was the Castello de Amorosa. We visited this castle out in the wine country was extraordinary.

My favorite part of the castle was not actually the structure, but the animals around it. Especially the sheep, they cracked me up and made it feel almost like we were back in time at a medieval castle.

It was so quaint and beautiful out there with all the animals. I really enjoyed the sheep but I also made a friend with the castle’s guardian, a little orange tabby cat. He was beautiful and was sitting in an olive tree outside the castle walls.

There were also an array of birds including peacocks and chickens.

It was a lot of fun exploring Napa with my mom and hope to do it again some time but for now the adventure in castles, food and wineries will have to do.

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Travel Update: Napa Part 1

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011

My family and I went on a short trip up to Napa for my little brother’s road bike race called the Cherry Pie Criterium. Yes, the winners do get cherry pies, sadly not us though. This was my first trip to wine country and because I am not yet of drinking age we had to find some pretty awesome adventures other than wine tasting. First plan for adventure: visiting cool looking wineries and taking pictures of fields with flowers.

We visited one winery with really interesting statues around it and it was really beautiful. Not to mention the weather while we were p there, around 80 the whole time. Nice!

Just looking around Napa there is such beautiful architecture everywhere. I wish I could have taken photos of all of it. The other amazing part about Napa are the old trees. I love the trees there with their scraggly limbs and reaching arms.

Next item on the adventure agenda was food of course! You can’t go to Napa and not eat good food, I think it should be a crime not to get good food. Our food of choice was the CIA, not the federal scary secretive thing but the Culinary Institute of America.

It was really amazing. We got two samplers, the entrée samplers and then the dessert samplers. With a side of the best brussel sprouts I have ever eaten!

The case of the missing food, I went to the bathroom and lo and behold it was gone. What can I say? Next was the desert round!!

I loved the little cookie spoon in this panacotta, it was beyond adorable and fun to eat with.

That is all for part one of the Napa trip, tomorrow there will be more tales of our next exciting adventure. Heres a hint, it has to do with something medieval looking and many animals, stay tuned 🙂

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Posted in Photos, Travel Updates |

Thursday, February 3rd, 2011

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Posted in Photos |