Trip to Wyoming

I had delusions of grandeur as to how detailed a write-up I'd give of my recent trip to Wyoming; somewhere I always knew I wouldn't do it, but I had the dream none the less.  However, I've finally come face-to-face with the idea that I would either not write it up, or write it up in a short-form version all in one post.  So that's what I'm doing.  All pictures hosted on my panoramio site, and link to the full version (you can see 18MP versions there).

Preparation and Day 1:
Not much exciting on the preparation, the big set-piece was the fact that I had wrecked my knee earlier.  I finally went to a doctor (well PA, but not the point) who informed me I had patella-tracking problems, was destroying my cartilage and needed to either go to physical therapy or it would keep getting worse and end up with very bad arthritis.  So I went to therapy but only for a week or so, not enough time to do much.  Though I did pick up a specialized knee brace which seemed to help.  The knee would end up dictating the whole trip, and I knew that going in, but I knew I could still take the trip.

The first day (August 26th, 2011) was driving from Boulder to Turpin Meadows, a little ways East of the Tetons and the start of the backpacking trip through the Thorofare that I had planned.  Not a terrible drive, and easily done in a day.  Along the way I ran into a brush fire right off the side of the road.

Brush Fire on the Way to Turpin Meadows

I hit Turpin Meadows in the early evening and in the middle of a mild rainstorm.  I set up camp, had dinner and went to sleep.  Somewhere between those things I wandered around and took a bunch of pictures.

Rainbows over the Campground at Turpin Meadows

Various Images of the Sunset from Above Turpin

Stars from the Campground

Day 2:
I got up a little before sunrise and got my stuff together (I think it was maybe 40-45 pounds, which is pretty good for 5 days), parked at the trailhead at Turpin Meadows and got started.  It was cloudy all day, which was a shame since it didn't do much for my pictures.  I walked along the South Buffalo river all the way to the base of Pendegraft Mountain.  I'm not sure what the distance was that day.  It was over 20 miles but I think less than 25, maybe about that.  I saw a couple backpacking a few miles in: they were fishing somewhere in Lower Pendegraft Meadow.

I felt good most of the day, my knee began to hurt but with the brace it was under control.  By the time I hit the ford of Lost Creek (probably 20 miles in) my knee was groaning quite a bit and I slowed a lot after that.  The ford itself was fine, it was long enough to get pretty cold but no problems at all with depth or flow.  It rained on me a few times, and as the evening came, the rain got more intense.  By the time I hit the ford of the South Buffalo right at the base of Pendegraft it was coming down pretty hard.  Fording that in the rain was a bit miserable but not too bad in and of itself.  There I had some dinner and decided to push on only a half mile or so and camp.  I passed some outfitters who refused to wave at me (what's that about?) and went to a little spot in the woods and set-up my camp.

South Buffalo Falls

Pendegraft From Right After the Ford of the South Buffalo

Day 3:
It was pretty wet when I woke-up; I put my pack back together and took off feeling a bit over saturated.  This day was full of river-crossings, all of the South Buffalo.  It began maybe a mile in: the trail is more of an outfitter trail and thus built for horses who don't care much about fording a river.  I put my wading shoes on and headed out.  I lost the trail on the other side, and based on the number of crossing coming up I decided to just walk straight up the river all the way to the Turner Fork river.  It was a few miles and was both a good and bad idea.  It was certainly easier than changing footwear at every crossing, and finding the trail each time was basically impossible.  However, the wading shoes on the riverbed gravel for that distance ended up destroying my feet.  I kept them on all the way to the last big ford over the South Buffalo and then switched to the boots.

The View Up South Buffalo, it Forks to the Right

Walking up the rest of the river (on a trail now) was a joy.  In and out of meadows with wonderful views of the surroundings.  The trail (and river) take a sharp right turn and start heading up to Cub Creek Pass.  I managed to avoid a few more fords by climbing around the side.  The pass itself was spectacular.  I went up and over it (to far to the South actually) and then back down by Boday Lake and finally up to the Buffalo Plateau.

Looking Down the South Buffalo from Cub Creek Pass

A Storm Over Boday Lake

A storm seemed to be moving in, but after a short bit of fear of climbing up to a plateau in a lightning storm, the clouds passed and the day cleared up.  My knee was began to get me again and with my now decimated feet I didn't want to go too far.  I did, however, decide to climb Crescent Mountain before camping just to the North of it.

The View North Over Crescent Mountain

There I discovered a fire had started down where I had been only the day before.  It made for a great sunset.

The Fire

The Sunset Over the Fire

Day 4:
This was a glorious day of walking North along the Buffalo Plateau.  It was steeper than I had anticipated, but had constant views in basically all directions.  Not the best pictures (not everything with spectacular views is photogenic) but a stunning walk.

Looking North Over the Divide Early in the Day

The View of a Lake and Wall Mnt. From the Divide

A Wonderful Valley on the Divide, Site of my Lunch

As I approached Marston Pass, my knee gave out.  It had been hurting but finally, as I was headed up a slope, it simply gave out.  I collapsed and had to rest for a while; and from then on, for the rest of my trip, I was effectively crippled.  I could still walk certainly, and on the flat I could walk fast as long as I was willing to deal with the pain.  Ups and downs though, I had to hobble slowly through all of it and spent a lot of time grabbing my leg and talking to myself.  Well, talking to my knee actually, which probably isn't a great sign for my mental stability.  I pretended it was because I hadn't seen anyone for a day or two and making noise was good for avoiding bears but I'm not sure that's true.

I ended up following the divide too closely, going too far to the East and stranding myself well above the pass.  There I was walking through smoke from the fire which limited the view but added a rather stunning and eerie light to the surroundings.

The View East Through the Smoke

I headed down from the divide but it was steep enough that I unstrapped my pack's waist-strap.  A few miles later I discovered my bear spray had slipped from the waist-strap and was forever lost.  I had to go the last 2.5 days without pepper spray in an area lousy with grizzlies.  I admit I was a bit worried.

I dropped down to the pass and then back up towards the South Yellowstone.  The climb up was incredibly painful.  I went a little way beyond the top of the valley (down into the South Yellowstone) and ended up stopping right on the side of the ridge.  After seeing the stars so clearly the night before, I took my camera with me and snapped a few shots of the night sky.  Miles and miles from any light source whatsoever, there was nothing to rival the view.

My Camp on the Hillside

Day 5:
It was a spectacular walk down the South Yellowstone to where the North and South joined together.  Wonderful pictures and gorgeous meadows.

Morning Reflection in a Meadow on the South Yellowstone

A Waterfall into the Valley

Sadly, on the way down, as a result of rain the previous night everything was soaked.  The water I had to walk through on the overgrown trail soaked through my clothes.  When I took off my boots for the second ford (the one over the North Fork) I actually dumped water out of my shoes.  Having my feet immersed for so long finished the destruction of my feet that had begun the second day in.  That combined with my knee made for a very painful day.  I think in total it was around 25 miles that day, maybe a bit more.

The trail closed down for much of the time walking down the Yellowstone.  Opening up occasionally for a meadow.  Finally, the canyon took a turn North and between the effects of an old fire and a meadow, the views came back.

Looking Back on the Way to Hawk's Rest

And Again, Looking Up the Yellowstone

The day ended at Hawk's Rest.  Despite the pain, and to my surprise, I made it there by 4:30 or so.  I walked by the national forest cabin there and was met by the volunteer manning it for the summer (Brad).  We ended up talking for an hour and a half.  Both a little light on human interaction as of late (though admittedly one more than the other).  A pleasant discussion on the area and other trivialities.  I ended up camping down on "Bear Box Row" I believe he called it.  A few hundred yards North on the Yellowstone there were a series of bear boxes, all empty.  I stashed my stuffed, had dinner, set up camp and went to sleep.  One day left on the backpack.

Day 6:
Some painful fords early on and the trail opened up.  My knee seemed to be doing better, and I picked up the pace.  It was a little over 25 miles out and I wanted to get out early so I could drive to a campground a ways away, call home to let them know I was all right, and be set-up before dark.

Only a few feet below the top of the last pass I had to cross, my knee really went out.  One moment to the next and it was gone.  I saw a piece of shade less than 200 feet away and it took me over six minutes to get there.  I began popping Advil, hoping if I took enough I could go on.  Waiting for 15-30 minutes I was able to get up and began limping along the trail.  When I got down to North Buffalo Meadow and the trail got flat, I was able to move a little faster.  I ended up making it out by 3:30, which was pretty good considering.  Feeling quite relieved (and realizing that I would not be able to go on anymore serious hikes this trip) I put my stuff away in my car and headed out.  I drove out towards the Tetons and called home.  Then headed back with the plan of camping in the Gros Ventres somewhere.  On the way back I saw my Father on the side of the road; he was out in the area at the same time and by some strange coincidence he was there and I was able to spot him.  We ended up camping together that night at Brooks Lake.

The Sun Setting from our Camping Site

Day 7:
My Dad took off in the morning for his own trip to the Thorofare (culminating in climbing Yount's Peak). I went back to the Gros Ventre Wilderness and drove up to Leidy Lake.  I parked there and walked up Mount Leidy.  There was a nice use trail up to the top, and the views were pretty darn good.

Coming up the Use Trail to Mt. Leidy

The View of the Tetons from the Top

Looking South From the Top, a Major Fire is Partially Visible

Upon returning, I drove a different route back.  I washed-up in a river there, and took pictures as I drove back to the highway.

Looking at the Tetons from the Road Out

The Tetons Again

I went to the Gros Ventre campground and got a spot.  I had planned on staying there anywhere, but now I was getting the spot for my parents who would show up in a few days.  After getting things situated and hanging up all my wet stuff I went over for a gander into Teton National Park itself before the night came. then out to an overlook for some pictures.

The Grand Teton at Dusk

Moon and Sunset Over the South End of the Tetons

Day 8:
This day was a drive into the Gros Ventre Wilderness via the Slide Lake entrance.  There was a rather major fire burning in the middle of it, and after a rather long drive into the park, past some good views and some fire camps I found the fire itself.

The Fire in the Gros Ventre Wilderness

After a drive out I spent the afternoon walking into Bear Paw Lake and reading there for a while.  Dinner and some pictures and it was bed time again.

Mt. Moran

Moran Again, from Further North

Best Viewed in Full Screen, Stars Over the Tetons

Day 9:
This day featured a walk around Jenny Lake in Teton NP.  Even with the knee, it was flat enough I could make it in pretty good time and it was a nice walk, with nice views and good memories.

Jenny Lake and Grand Teton

And Again the Grand

Then a drive North to Signal Mountain and the dam at Jackson Lake.  Afterwards over to Two Ocean Lake and back to the campground where I read and waited for my Father to show up, which he did, not too long after dinner.  I went out again that night for some more photos.

Stars Over the Tetons

Day 10 (Final):
I woke up early and drove down to Green River Lakes at the North end of the Wind Rivers.  Since I knew it was my last day, I did a little more serious walk.  Up above the second Green River Lake,

Squaretop Peaks Out, Taken from Between the Two Green River Lakes

Reflections in the Upper Green River Lake

Squaretop from Above the Upper Green River Lake

 around the meadow there, up to Slide Lake and down to the campground.

Looking up Clear Creek Canyon on the Way to Slide Lake

Slide Lake Itself

Squaretop on the Way Back to the Car

I waited for night to come so I could take some star photos of Squaretop there, and then head out the next day.  Sadly, as I waited, clouds moved in and moved in.  By 11:00pm the moon was about as far gone as it could be for the picture to still work.  There was complete cloud cover, obscuring my picture.  I took a picture anyway, mostly out of spite.

Squaretop at Night, There was Supposed to Be Stars

I was unhappy about the way it ended, but with that feeling and knowing it was about to rain I decided to drive home that night instead of trying to set-up camp or wait another day.  I got in the car and drove.  It was a pretty long day, I had woken up at 5am that morning and it wasn't until around 6am the next day I finally reached home.

Fake Job Ideas

So I realize the readership that this blog used to enjoy (almost no one) has dropped off considerably (to no one), none the less, this serves as my first direct appeal to anyone actually reading this.  Perhaps you know me, perhaps you stumbled on this doing a search for the perfect pudding cup recipe (which would be odd, as I don't think I've used all those words in a post up to now, though I suppose you stumbled directly onto this post which has them not only all in one paragraph, but neatly lined up next to each other).  However you got here, you're here now and I want your help!

I need a long series of amusing, fake jobs to pretend to have.  The key is that for a split second before they're processed they sound real, then the element of absurdity in them appears.  Not too long (they shouldn't need an explanation to get the joke, just a job title) and based on some real life job but with a twist.  I don't have many so far, but here's what I got:

Caddy for the local putt-putt golf course
Pork wholesaler to the Jewish district
Labor Leader trying to unionize CEOs
Professional Larry Bird impersonator (this could probably be funnier if I was clever enough to think of a funnier personality, I'm not sure if picking a black celebrity is going too far)
Training to become the first non-Catholic, male nun

I think this thing should be set-up so you can leave a response without having an account: feel free!

The Beast Inside

I am almost done re-reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, a book I consider to be the best non-fiction book I have ever read.  I just completed the rather voluminous chapter entitled "The New Order" in which the author gives the generalities of the type of rule the Nazis had planned for the world along with some specifics of actual occurrences.  By complete coincidence, the last DVDs that arrived for me from Netflix before that part of my account is shut-off were the ones containing Schindler's List, a movie that up until now I had not seen.  Taking in both of these pieces of media together proved to be quite an unpleasant shock to they system, even if I'd been through one before and was aware of the content of the other.

The most upsetting part, outside the destruction of lives of the Jews and other 'undesirables' was the knowledge of how many people it would take to commit acts on such a grand scale.  The knowledge that there are Hitlers out there is not surprising, and we know serial killers exist.  But it is apparently a truth that if we create a climate that would encourage it, there are millions of men and women who would become murders.  Not soldiers, killing in a way we have deemed acceptable for some reason, but chasing down families, men women and children in the streets and shooting them in the head.  Apparently these people are all around us.  The SS was not made up of Himmler and a few cronies he'd drugged into submission to his will.  Hundreds of thousands, men and women who were eager to bring pain and death to other human beings, they were all there before the Third Reich came to be, it wasn't around long enough to develop its own strain of evolution.

So the obvious question is: who is around us that would stand and be counted should we enter such a regime?  Or more to the point, how can we know that the beast is not within us, waiting for the chance to cause pain and suffering, to spread death and misery to those whom we've chosen to despise?  Could you walk down the streets in Berlin, or Munich in 1922 and point out "Oh yes, he will be with the S.D., and him, he will be S.S.  This one will reject the brown-shirts and flee but she shall become a guard at an extermination camp and cut the hair of the women about to be executed"?

Where does the thing hide when it is daylight outside?  How can we be sure it has to refuge in us?  That feeling of hate, that desire to tear down, to repudiate the life of another, is it not in all of us to some degree? Given sufficient encouragement would it be set loose and could we stop it or would we even want to?

Upcoming Trip

Here's the plan for my trip.  It could change drastically depending on how I (and in particular my knee feels) which may mean lengthening it if I feel great as well as cutting it short, but this is the trip I have planned for now.  I'll leave Saturday and follow this route:

http://g.co/maps/j79g

1) That night I plan to reach Turpin Meadows and camp there.

2-5) The next day I leave on my backpacking trip (details below) which should last five days

6) When I get out (hopefully Thurs) I hope to be able to make it to Gros Ventre campground by the evening, but I may not feel up to it and just stay at Turpin Meadows that night.

7) The next day, Friday (assuming I'm still on target) I mess around in the Gros Ventre Wilderness, around Mt. Leidy and East Mt. Leidy.  If it's a short hike I'll go to Green River Lakes that evening, otherwise I'll stay there.

8) Saturday I'll do some short day hike around Green River Lakes (Wind Rivers) and presumably stay there that night.

9-?) Sunday I either just go straight home or head down to Big Sandy, depending on how I feel.  If I feel good I'll stay there at Big Sandy a couple days (all day hikes)

Whenever I think I'm done, I'll head home.  The most obvious way for me to extend this trip beyond what I have written here if I'm feeling great is to spend more time in the G.V. Wilderness, but for now I don't have anything planned out there beside the Mt. Leidy thing.  The other way it gets longer is if I want to do all these things, but find I can't do the hike I have planned and the transportation in a day and thus start adding in rest/driving days in between stops.  So this could balloon out quite a bit, I really wont know until I'm there.

Backpacking:

1) Leave from Turpin Meadows in the morning and go along the S. fork of the Buffalo river to Pendegraft Meadows.  There I'll either stay for the night, or try to go just above the Meadows to the South and camp at one of the lakes or meadows up there.

2) Go up the rest of the S. fork to where it hits Cub Creek.  If I'm feeling strong, continue on the Buffalo plateau towards Marston Pass, but not very far that way.

3) Walk along the Plateau to the pass.  If I get there early I'll camp beneath (on the South side) of Thorofare Mt.  If I get there really early, I'll go down the valley a little way to camp (along the trail)

4) Walk the trail to Hawk's Rest and camp there

5) Walk Out across Two Ocean Meadow and Soda Fork (this day is a reverse of what Dad and I did this Spring)

Until I start to head down to Hawk's Rest there are a lot of way to get back to Turpin Meadows, cutting off distance, so I can exit at any point before that.  I figure by the time I head down (day four) I should know if I can make it or not, and it's all on trail and pretty flat from there on.

Night Time Photography

Night time photography has become a thing for me.  It started when I saw a picture of Grosvenor Arch at night with stars in the background while on vacation in Utah some months ago.  Since then I've been trying to create such shots myself and it's led to a lot of discoveries about what it takes to get that night shot.  My first desire was a picture like the one I saw: the landscape lit by the moon with the stars in the background.  That requires just the right timing both in time of day (well, time of night) and time of the lunar phase.  As a result I went out a lot at night and had to try to figure out how to take different kinds of night shots.  One of the first things I encountered was lightening; which has some of the same elements but I wont get into the differences here.  One of those shots is the opening image, and here's another:



The biggest problem, I discovered, was finding an area that was bright enough that it didn't just silhouette with the stars in the background.  So of course my first tries ended up being exactly that.  Which is OK, because that can make some good pictures too.  In this case it's a lot easier to get the settings right.  Set the exposure for the sky, not necessarily the exposure the camera recommends, but with a digital it's pretty easy to just try a few settings, with just a little experience it's pretty quick, and snap.  Unless there's a lot of moon, the foreground will be almost pitch black.  Like I said, sometimes this is just what the doctor ordered.






Color Balance:
One of the problems you'll first notice, if you're shooting anywhere near a city, is the color.  Well sure light pollution will also degrade the quality of the stary scene, but that's just the way it is: no camera setting can fix that.  What you'll find, though, is that the sky and anything lit by the city (clouds, reflection from the clouds onto the ground, whatever) will be red.  This is because the artificial lights we use put out a very "cold" (from the point of view of physics and your camera settings) or red light.  Your eyes adjust for it automatically so you can't always tell just looking at the scene, but your camera isn't quite so nimble.  Sometimes red can be fantastic.  I like using the color to add some mystery to my scene.



But you will at least want to know how to control it.  The key here is your white balance setting.  Just about any digital camera sold today (including the point-and-shot variety) have white balance settings.  This is how you control what the camera thinks is white based on the lighting.  Most likely if you don't know what I'm talking about yours is set to "auto white balance" which will try to guess what kind of light is being used.  Direct sunlight, shade, and various kinds of artificial lights all produce different colors of light which has to be compensated for.  Again your eyes do this automatically so you probably wont notice that something in shade appears a bit bluer than something in direct sunlight, but your camera does.  Auto white balance works all right for normal colors outdoors but it becomes a problem at night.

If you're super sophisticated (I'm not) you'll have a white card to read the color temperature from and you can use "custom white balance" to really nail the scene as is.  If you're like me and think buying and then carrying around and using a white card sounds terrible, you're pretty much stuck with guessing what the color temperature of your light is and picking from the presets.  The two your camera is likely to have that will come in handy are "florescent" and "tungsten".  I like the first because it does retain the mystical, red color without completely blowing out the red channel.  Tungsten is probably going to be your most "photo-real" option.  They both refer to what's producing the light (tungsten is the filament found in most light bulbs today) and they both emphasize the blue and downplay the red (though tungsten to a higher degree).

Exposure:
You have to choose what you want to be properly exposed.  It's incredibly rare when shooting at night that all parts of your scene have the same light level.  Now in a sense this is true for daytime photography as well, but the scale is much larger at night.  The big thing here is that if you get the night sky at all you have the source of illumination (the stars) in frame.  That's like trying to shoot with the sun in picture.  You'll either blow out the stars or underexpose the foreground.  The latter is what I described above: it's the easiest to set-up and still look good, but it does mean that your landscape will only serve as a horizon shape, not as any detail.

This can change if you manage to get moonlight into your shot.  It's still tough to get the right amount of moon, especially since the only way to control that is pick the right point in the lunar phase, and it depends on your location how much light it's getting.  In general I've found anywhere between 40% illuminated and 80% illuminated makes for good shots.  One of the nice things is you can blow out the stars and they still tend to look good.  So you have some freedom there, a wider range to work with.

Now when it comes to actually setting the exposure here's what I do.  I figure out the absolutely biggest aperture I can use is while still getting my depth of field that I need, and then setting the shutter speed from there.  The first is basically a guess, but an educated one and just depends on how deep my shot is and comes from experience (which I am still acquiring).  The faster the shutter speed the less the stars move and the better image you get (unless you're going for the whole "sky rotating" thing which is an entirely different process normally requiring several hundred individual images).  The stars aren't as blurred and same goes for anything in your shot that can move in the wind.  All the same with my fastest glass (f/1.8) and shooting dark foregrounds I still rarely get faster than a 5 second exposure so nothing will actually be still.  I find that after about 15" you can start to notice star movement (depending a great deal on level of magnification of course).  30" is about as long as I'd go if I cared at all that the stars stay still.

Use the light meter on your camera as a guide but know it's normally wrong, and often by two stops or so. Take a picture and check.  It can be hard to tell in the dark with your bright LCD screen what the best exposure is but if you look to see what detail you can really make out, and the comparative brightness of different elements it tends to work all right.  I normally take two or three pictures before I'm satisfied, at least for the first shot.  Then I base my proceeding pictures on the settings of the first one.  Always remember though that even if the lighting is exactly the same your subject isn't.  How much of the sky is exposed, how reflective your subject is, etc... it can all change the appropriate exposure so pay attention!

ISO:
A quick word about ISO: 100 is probably what your camera is naturally set at (though it may actually be a little higher and then darkens the image for 100, depending on the model).  ISO refers to how sensitive the film/digital sensor is, the higher the number the more sensitive and thus the brighter your image is.  The drawback to the increased sensitivity is noise gain.  It's like turning up the radio and the songs louder but so is all the static.  Generally you want it as low as possible while still getting the image you need.  In daylight 100 is normally fine.  At night it becomes a different beast all together.

The only way to tell what your comfortable with is trial and error.  And that means taking the photos back home and looking at them in detail because the noise that will bother you probably wont show up on your LCD screen (though if it does, you're in real trouble!).  It will depend on the size and type of your sensor, your camera's software for removing the noise and your opinion of what is and isn't acceptable.  When looking at samples always take pictures with dark patches in them: that's where the noise shows up.  For me, I've found ISO 800 is where I'm happy and I shot almost exclusively at that setting.  Every once in a while I'll bump it up to 1600 but only rarely.  I basically never go lower because that mean increasing the time I have to let the shutter stay open and that means adding blur to my photo.

Choosing Location:
The biggest advantage for me of night shots is that, if there are few clouds, you know the sky will be interesting.  This is the problem with day shots: the foreground can be interesting but gray or even just blue negative space in the clouds can make the whole image seem drab.  So taking a shot at night ensures that there's something there that adds to the picture.  However, that attitude can get one (me) carried away and take shots that aren't interesting.  A good rule of thumb is: would you take this picture if it were light out?  The exception to that is when you can get a good silhouette and you're just blacking the foreground, but in general if it's not interesting in daytime it wont be a good night shot either.

The other issue to think about is where your light is coming from.  Unlike the nice, bright sun, the moonlight isn't strong enough to scatter and give you diffuse lighting of everything.  Ideally you want the moon to the back of your shot, and you want an open area for it to work on.  It's why I favor shooting at lakes (plus they're so reflective, it's much easier to get the shot I want).  You don't have to do this, if there's a shot your really want that's closed in you should get that shot.  But then you need to pay attention to when the moon will be where you want it to, and what the best position will be to maximize that light.

Lighting the Scene Yourself:
This is tough, I've only tried it a couple times and with mixed results.  You can do this using just your flash (still a multi-second exposure, but the flash goes once at the beginning) or with some other light source.  A lot of people recommend car headlights but I have yet to be in a situation where what I wanted to photograph was in a position to be seen by my car's headlights.  Flashlights can do the trick, and that's what I have tried.  Here's the issues you need to be aware of:
Each light has its own color temperature and if you set the color for that light, some other part of the scene will be off-color:

That was taken with my flash, with the white balance set to 'flash'.  You can see the sky added a lot of red.

The rule of squares is perhaps a larger problem.  That is your light diminishes based on the square of the distance it shines.  So something twice as close will be four times brighter if one light is used equally on each one.  Making sure everything is lit the same amount becomes almost impossible to do.  Your best bet is choosing a subject that's marginally far away from your camera in comparison to it's own depth (meaning a 1' deep subject should be several feet away) and then only having the one subject.

Sometimes though, you can only get the shot you want by lighting yourself.

All that said, night photography is fun and can produce some wonderful images.  They make for good "wow!" shots if nothing else, and taking them is a great time.  And now, here's the my personal favorite so far:



Here's where I keep all my night shots, you can see it go from crummy to... less crummy over time. :)
http://www.panoramio.com/user/5423509/tags/Night%20Shot

Photographing Fireworks

So with the 4th come fireworks and this year I wanted to try to capture them on film.  Well on digital memory anyways.  Images, I wanted to have images.  So I went with my Sister and Brother-in-Law to "The Love Boat", a large rock known for its bouldering possibilities that's a little over 1000' above my house from which we could see down into Folsom Field where the cities fireworks show was.

The Technical Means:
Because I was far away I set my ISO at 400, as opposed to 200 which I would've used if I was closer.  I set my aperture to f/10, again I probably would've used a little smaller aperture (maybe f/16) if I was closer.  I had to use my telephoto and set it to full zoom (250mm for me) I was so far away, but that ended up being a decently framed shot.  I then used my remote (the camera was set on full manual, bulb exposure) and just continually set it off.  I'd then watch the fireworks and after what I felt was a good image had appeared, close the shutter and start over.  It took a lot of practice to figure out what a good time to close the shutter was but I did get better as time went on.  Anywhere from 4 to 16 seconds for the exposure just depending on the fireworks.  At the end, during the grand finale I set it on continuous burst for a 3" or so exposure and just let it go.  The first way was better but didn't really work for the grand finale so the second method was pretty good there.  In total I shot about 150 exposures, I'd say about 10-15 turned out pretty well.  I ended up uploading three of them: and then deleting them.  So I uploaded these four directly to this blog (the three I uploaded were not selected to Google Earth and even though I can have 2GB of photos that aren't selected I've become OCD about not having anything up that isn't).  So here are those four (click for full size):

As per usual all my photos can be seen here: http://www.panoramio.com/user/5423509

Another Cake, for Freedom!

Sadly, not very high quality freedom.  This didn't turn out near as well as my last one, but hopefully it's at least recognizable.  At first I made the top part (I don't know what that's called, the part that attaches the bell to its frame) the same color as the rest.  Big mistake, I tried to fix it but by then the fix... well you can see.  Anyways, here's my cake liberty bell (before and after):

It's my Birthday (Cake)

You heard me.  And I made my own cake again.  Last year was a piano which I thought turned out pretty well.  This year I did something a little different.

The whole thing is edible, no fondant (technically edible but I don't count it) and no hidden supports anywhere.  The bridge itself is made out of fudge and the rest is chocolate cake and butter cream frosting (the blue is the same as the white: vanilla but with blue food-coloring, the brown is chocolate).

Steps:
1. Make a mold for the fudge bridge
2. Make the fudge and freeze it in the mold
3. Make two cakes, each 13"x9"
4. Make two recopies of vanilla, butter-cream frosting
5. Cut the two cake and mold them so as to be a river, mountains and ridges using the frosting as glue
6. Add the white frosting as a base for the river (it needs a base because of all the crumbs it will develop) and the snow-capped peaks.
7. Turn some of the remaining frosting into blue via food coloring and use that to create the river and feeder streams.  Top where appropriate with white for foam caps.
8. Make another recipe of butter-cream frosting plus whatever white frosting is left and make it chocolate.
9. Fill in any unfrosted area (most of the volume will go to the outside edge, most of the work to getting it to meet up on the inside)
10.  Cut a space for and add the fudge bridge.

Not bad for someone with no training in this right?  After I'd made the fudge and the two cakes it took me a little over two hours to make the frosting and put the whole thing together.

Die Walküre: a synopsis and review (kind of) from the 2011 Met Performance

Often I've been told that the music I'm listening to is descriptive of a scene and that I should clearly be able to hear what it is if I knew how to listen.  "Can't you hear the ocean there in the strings?  And that trumpet that came in: that's the moon coming out between the clouds.  Can't you hear it?  Isn't it obvious?"  No it's not, and no I can't; but I know exactly what's going on when Die Walküre opens.  Many operas we're familiar with begun with an overture that is basically a sampler of the music to come.  Not so here, here the orchestral prelude accompanies a man running from his foes, having been bloodied and disarmed and we know that's what happens as a result of the music.  The first 3 1/4 minutes of the video below give you the prelude:

Our running hero is Siegmund, being chased through the forest by faceless foes.  Lepage's great machine, the subject of much debate in staging The Ring is here perfect.  The long, metal finger bend down and reflect the video images of trees as Siegmund dashes between them.  Finally spent, he finds a house in the midst of the woods and casts himself down at the hearth.  Enter Sieglinde, woman of the house and wife of the brute Hunding.  She is struck by his beauty and when he awakes gives him drink.


The two speak briefly, clearly both enamored of each other but soon their dialog is cut short by the entrance of Hunding.  He commands dinner be made from him and their mysterious guest.  Over dinner (in which the unhappy relationship between wife and husband is clearly shown) we learn that Sigmund was separated at birth from his twin sister and spent his life wandering with his father fighting off enemies.  Now his father has vanished and he has been beaten and is being chased after trying to defend a young woman forced into marriage (who has died in the midst of the fight incidentally).  Hunding reveals that he is one of the men called to hunt Sigmund and that this is the task he was returning from when he found the stranger in his home.  Because he has been welcomed as a guest Hunding tells him that he has the night in deference to hospitality but come morning Hunding will fight and slay Sigmund.


Well it's all getting rather fraught, isn't it?  Hunding goes to bed, aided by a sleeping draught Sieglinde has slipped him and the two love-birds talk.  Sigmund bemoans his state: his father had promised him that in his hour of need he would find a sword and would win victory with it.  Surely now, unarmed in the house of an enemy the time has come!  Sieglinde tells him that on her wedding day a strange man came, shoved a sword into the tree that stands at the center of their house and left.  Since then no man has had power to remove it.  Sigmund takes the sword out and rejoices, he and Sieglinde are in love!  Once more, they discover they are brother and sister which only compounds their joy.


Yes, it's weird but that's the way it goes in mythology, and particularly in Wagner's portrayal of it.  The rather incestuous plot is greatly helped by some stunning love music, started by a lone cello and caught up into the orchestra and the voices.    In the Met's production no singer is anything but stellar, and though this isn't the act in which each will show their magnificence the music swoops and soars, and carries us through to the end when Sigmund and Sieglinde run off together, knowing they will soon be chased by Hunding and his kin.


Perhaps this a is a good time to mention James Levine.  The primary conductor at the Met (who has many titles there), chosen at incredibly young age to lead the world famous opera house he has become one of, if not the most renowned opera conductors today and is especially noted for his interpretations of Wagner.  Recently he has suffered back problems and had to recuse himself from all summer performances.  It is rumored that he may never return which would make this particular performance his last in the Met.  A sad day indeed, but suffice it to say that this showing was worthy of him, and worth seeing as a final hurrah should that be what it is.


Well again and orchestral prelude opens us into Act II.  It's another wonderful piece of music and shows the wait leitmotives (musical themes that represent people, objects, emotions, or ideas) can be used to tell the story.  Hear the Walküre theme at the end?  You'll recognize it from the Ride of the Valkyries.

Here is Wotan, king of the gods and our first view of the connection between Die Walküre and its predecessor, Das Rheingold.  In comes Brünnhilde, daughter of Wotan and the Valkyrie of the title, though she has eight sisters who will appear later.  Deborah Voigt sings the title role and does so in a world-class fashion.  Her voice is spectacular, and as is becoming more and more a concern in opera, her acting is also quite good.  She is jovial and war-like, she loves her father and her task: to bring fallen heroes to Valhalla where they can help Wotan defend the gods themselves.


Well in comes Fricka, wife of Wotan and goddess of marriage and contracts.  It is by her that Wotan is able to rule, and she is quite upset at the breach of contract he is making!  It turns out that, unknown to the children, Wotan is father of both Sigmund and Sieglinde and has planned from them to kill Hunding and go on to preform a task he needs done to rescue him from his poor choices in the past (long story guys).  Well Fricka points out that they have both committed the crime of incest and broken the covenant of marriage, thus he must reverse himself and kill Sigmund as punishment for his crimes.  Stephanie Blythe is Fricka, a renowned Wagnerian singer, and she is sublime here in her basically 20 minute long nag aimed at Wotan (presumably stolen from Wagner's wife at the time, Mina).


Wotan slinks away, having agreed to perform the deed.  A wonderful piece of music here highlights the change that will come over the opera.  He orders Brünnhilde, who he just told to save Sigmund, to have him killed and bring him to Valhalla.  She is outraged but Wotan flies into a rage, orders her to proceed and exits.  He does so after having run over the whole plot The Ring up to this point, which fills in holes if you aren't familiar with Das Rheingold and some holes that that opera left as well.  In addition, it fills the listener in on all the important leitmotives that accompany each event or object.  When he speaks of the ring of power, there is the music for the ring.  When he sings of Valhalla here is the Valhalla theme.  A good way to get caught up: listen closely!


Brünnhilde, loving her father, goes down to Sigmund who is standing beside his sister, the two in the process of running from Hunding and Sieglinde fallen asleep with exhaustion.  Brünnhilde informs Sigmund that he is to die but that she will take him To Valhalla where he will be in the company of heroes, his father and served his every desire in the great hall.  Sigmund seems excited but then asks the big question: will Sieglinde be there?  No, Brünnhilde replies, she can not come.  Then Sigmund is determined to kill her and himself and walk in hell together rather than be separated in the heaven of Valhalla.  A wonderfully lyrical piece of music here accentuates Sigmund's longing for glory and his is even greater love of his sister Sieglinde. 


Well, Brünnhilde is so touched by their love she changes her mind, defies her father and tell Sigmund that she will save him.  And she tries when the fight begins but Wotan himself appears and shatters Sigmund's sword: allowing him to be run through by Hunding, who Wotan than kills in disgust.  Brünnhilde, frightened for her life and Sieglinde's, takes the woman with her and flees from the wrath of her father who is incensed that she disobeyed him.  The curtain falls on his anger.


Ah, Act III, one of the most spectacular pieces of opera ever created.  It opens with one of the most famous works of art in the Western world: The Ride of Valkyries (it's important to have a recording with singing).

The Valkyries (Brünnhilde's sisters) are riding up to a great mountain top with fallen heroes aboard their horses.  Here the set and direction of Robert Lepage is wonderful, with the Valkyries actually riding the set itself down onto the stage, bucking and galloping the whole way!  The sisters great each other in joy and discuss their exploits.  They note that Brünnhilde is not here, where is she?  Ah, there she comes!  But in great haste, and who is aboard her horse?  She appears with Sieglinde and begs her sisters for help.  Give her a new horse that she may flee father!  Her sisters are too loyal and too afraid of Wotan to do so.

Brünnhilde then turns to Sieglinde who is depressed to the point of being catatonic.  She wishes she had died with her love Sigmund and does not have any special thanks for Brünnhilde.  That is until she's informed that she is now pregnant with Sigmund's child (who will become Sigfried: the hero and title character of the next opera).  Brünnhilde instructs her to go the woods to the East where Wotan fears to go and their give birth to the great hero Sigfried.  Sieglinde is newly inspired and thanks Brünnhilde greatly with music of astounding beauty.  Here we hear the redemption theme that will come to cleanse the world two opera from now.  These few lines of Siglinde's are a demonstration of the incredible power of  Eva-Maria Westbroek's voice.

Sieglinde is off with the ruins of Sigmund's sword, and just in time for here comes Wotan!  Brünnhilde's sisters try to hide her for a time from the wrath of her father but they are soon chased away and the daughter and father left to sing one the final scene in the opera together: the most beautiful part of an opera packed with astounding music.  In his wrath he curses Brünnhilde to lie sleeping until some mortal wakes her and becomes her master in her now limited life.  Brünnhilde argues that she was only fulfilling Wotan's true will with her actions and does not deserve such a punishment.

The predicament reminds me of Jephthah from Judges who has sworn in haste to sacrifice the first thing that comes out of his house to God.  One must ask what he thought would exit, was his dresser surprisingly mobile and apt to run out to great him?  Of course his daughter appears and is subject to his rash promise.  Here to Wotan, not just now but through-out his life, has made rash contracts which have bound him down until he is given no escape.  He has just been forced to kill his favorite son (Sigmund) and now must remove the immortality of his favorite daughter and giver her to a mortal man.

Brünnhilde convinces Wotan to place a ring of fire around her, and that only a man who does not feat Wotan will be able to cross it: ensuring that at least the man she is bound to will be a great warrior.  Wotan agrees and says good bye to the daughter he knows he will never see again.  Summoning fire to encircle Brünnhilde , he sings the opera to its close.

This passage is so incredibly moving that I was brought to tears and remained in them for the final 15 minutes of the opera.  It is a powerful scene from the storyline alone, but the music is without equal.

The whole opera was one of the more intense experiences I've ever had with a work of art of any kind.  With two long intermissions it clocks in at over 5 hours, so it is not to be undertaken lightly, but it is well worth the time invested, and the Met's production is simply superb.