Lost Creek Wilderness Area - Colorado

Designated as wilderness in 1980, the Lost Creek Wilderness Area includes almost 120,000 acres of forest, river, and incredible rock formations amid the Tarryall, Platte River and Kenosha mountain ranges in the heart of Colorado. Running through the middle of this magnificence, is the 35 mile long Tarryall Valley.

The area was settled by miners and ranchers, drawn by beauty and hope for success, their future was carved out of this immense landscape. The valley is dotted with evidence of their time here, abandoned buildings telling the stories of the rough and rugged few who called this home.

The Wilderness is a favorite of backpackers, mountain and rock climbers, fisherman, and photographers. Wildlife is abundant here and one might see black bear, mule deer, mountain lion, golden eagles, and elk.  It is one of the best spots for viewing bighorn sheep, although I wasn't lucky enough to see any on this trip.

                                   Tarryall Historic Home Tour - I need Your Advice!

Hey everyone, Sunday I went on an historical home tour - and I found a fantastic home! I want to share all the fabulous features of this property with you, and see what you think before I put in an offer. Of all the homes I saw, this one really caught my eye! Until now, although I love historical properties, I've always thought of them as 'money pits', and have been afraid to buy one, but this one doesn't look so bad.

Like most historical properties, it will need a little work here and there, but I think I'm up to the task.  Please let me know what your thoughts are on this - purchasing real estate is SUCH an emotional process, wouldn't you agree?

                       ;)

Ammenities are as follows:

Light, open and airy

100+ year roof, and a lovely sun porch

Jack and Jill master bath

Architechtural details

2 Car garage

Outbuildings

Amazing 360 mountain views

Excellent school nearby!

The owner is even willing to leave some of the furnishings! WhooHaa!

          So. What do you think? Should I take the plunge? LOL

This is actually the old Tarryall Post Office and General Store built in 1895, and was once the hub of a thriving community of lumberjacks, miners and their families. The old school house, originally built in 1898, was replaced by this larger building using the original bell and belfry in 1921. It still stands today, and is used for church services, weddings and funerals. These buildings are privately owned, and to my knowledge, not for sale.

Tarryall is gorgeous country - an amazing valley that stretches for miles at the base of the Tarryall Mountain Range. Everywhere I went, I saw free range cattle and horses all over this prime ranch land. Oh, how I love the west, and Colorado in particular!

This area is one of 11 National Natural Landmarks in the State of Colorado

The ranch house in the foreground is an old homestead. Amazingly built and preserved, it is two stories. Look how small it is in comparison to it's surroundings. These are SERIOUS mountains!

Light, Shadow, and Texture - Rampart Range, Colorado

Rampart Range is one of my favorite places to go when I want to get out and take photos, and don't want to travel far. It takes me about 10 minutes to drive to this 60 mile long dirt road that runs along the ridge of the Rampart Range from Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, to just west of the town of Sedalia. The road winds around through rolling prairie and heavily forested acreage that is partly private, and partly National Forest. It offers the most spectacular views of Pikes Peak, the Front Range, and the Tarryall Mountains. Not to mention astounding sunsets.  I go often, and as it changes with the seasons, I'm never disappointed with the photos I take there.

I went Saturday, and spent about 2 1/2 hours wandering around in the open space photographing the pre-winter landscape. The light was constantly changing, and I was intrigued by the shadows, how the light fell, and the varying textures that surrounded me.

The sunset was accentuated by the contrails of several jets going in all directions across the sky. It was spectacular!

Sunset was definitely worth waiting for :)

This slideshow was produced with ProShow Producer V. 4, and is 2 minutes, 41 seconds long.

Bokeh, What is it?

The word 'bokeh' derives  from the Japanese word boke, (bo-keh), which means blur, or fuzzy. In photography, it refers to a blurred, or out of focus background in a photograph.

To acheive bokeh in an image, you need an open aperture,  f2.8 or wider with the widest aperture being the smallest number, (so, f1.2 is wider than f 2.8), and you need to get close to your subject. This is how you seperate your subject from your background.

When shooting with bokeh in mind, try to be sure you have a pleasing background to compliment your foreground.

A good examlple of bokeh will be a shot where the blurred background has no 'sharp' edges. It is soft.

A less pleasing example would be where there are sharp, or more defined edges in the background such as in this photograph.  While beauty is subjective, IMHO the more defined background detracts from the subject in the foreground.

Cold vs. H1N1 - Know the Difference!

I heard on the news the other day that the seasonal flu hasn't really even hit yet - That means, according to the report, that nearly all cases of the flu so far are H1N1. The government has declared the H1N1 pandemic a national emergency. According to the Washington Times, as of October 25th, there have been more than 1000 deaths, 100 of them pediatric. (The synopsis below reports 22 pediatric deaths as of Oct. 24). And we are woefully short on vaccines. We all know the steps we should take to help prevent getting the flu, but do we all know the symptoms? When is going to the doctor warranted? Or the emergency room? I have to wonder how many deaths can be prevented by not waiting too long to get medical care.

A co-worker had the flu last week. I asked her if it was H1N1, and she said she didn't know for sure. It is too expensive to have the tests done, so she didn't have it confirmed. Are the statistics we see on how many cases there have been based on 'tested' cases? If that's so, then the numbers must be much higher than reported.

This information is from the CDC:

Synopsis:

During week 42 (October 18-24, 2009), influenza activity increased in the U.S.

• 8,268 (42.1%) specimens tested by U.S. World Health Organization (WHO) and National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS) collaborating laboratories and reported to CDC/Influenza Division were positive for influenza.
• All subtyped influenza A viruses being reported to CDC were 2009 influenza A (H1N1) viruses.
• The proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza (P&I) was above the epidemic threshold.
• Twenty-two influenza-associated pediatric deaths were reported. Nineteen of these deaths were associated with 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus infection and three were associated with an influenza A virus for which the subtype was undetermined.
• The proportion of outpatient visits for influenza-like illness (ILI) was above the national baseline. All 10 regions reported ILI above region-specific baseline levels.
• Forty-eight states reported geographically widespread influenza activity, Guam and two states reported regional influenza activity, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico reported local influenza activity, and the U.S. Virgin Islands did not report

 Know the Difference between Cold and H1N1 Flu Symptoms

If you know someone who lives alone, keep an eye on them! They may not be able to get the care they need if they are too sick to seek it out....

 The Power of Active Rain and SEO

A few days ago I wrote a post called SEO for Your Photo Blogs. It is good to remember that Active Rain in itself is a powerful tool in helping to boost your SEO.

Case in point - Yesterday I posted about a photo I took, and noted the equipment I used, in particular, a Hoya Digital Pro 3X Close up lens. This morning, I Googled the lens, because I couldn't remember how much I paid for it, and that annoyed me :) To my surprise, THIS is what I found on the 1st page of my Google search:

Now, I don't know about you - but I'm liking this!

If you ever have any doubt about your commitment to Active Rain, or the benefit of your time spent here, think again!

 "My Publisher"

While most of us don't commit hundreds of photographs to print anymore, many of us have gazillions of bytes worth of photos sitting in our hard drives. Wouldn't it be nice if someone else could see them? How about the photos of your most recent vacation? Or your daughters' wedding?

Better yet, wouldn't this be a great marketing tool? "Homes SOLD in 2009", or "Homes Staged in 2009", maybe?

My Publisher is a terrific medium for just that!  In My Publisher, you can create a photobook, a really nice first class book, of your photos. You have a choice of sizes, styles, templates, and covers (even leather if you want it!) that will make your photobook unique. The software is free, and once you've finished creating your book, you can email it to friends, and/or have it published and shipped to you. According to their website, they've shipped more than 5 MILLION Photobooks since 2002! Gotta be doing something right...

The interface is easy to use, and I can attest to the quality. I had one made last year for my husband for Valentine's Day, and I was very pleased with the results. They shipped it fast - I like FAST! I plan to have another made this year to share as Christmas gifts.

Here's a screen shot of the interface:

Along the top are the photos you want in your book that you have dragged and dropped into the interface. In the center is your book layout (which you choose for each page). Here you can decide which photos you want where. You can have 1 - 12 photos per page, in your choice of layout. Along the bottom you'll find basic editing tools available. The crop tool is very useful here, and does not effect your original photograph.

You can choose the color of your background as well:

              Just make darn sure it's perfect before you hit that 'Purchase' button!

                                                  Here's the link to "My Publisher"

First time buyers get a buy one/get one free deal -and no, I don't own stock in the company! LOL

WhooHoo! 1st Place Macro! - Arlington Camera Photo Contest

A couple months or so ago, a friend told me about a photo contest sponsored by Arlington Camera in Texas. She suggested I enter a photo and see what happens....So I did.

This was my entry:

I took this photograph using a Nikon 50mm prime lens with a Hoya Digital Pro 3X Closeup lens attached. It was a late spring day up on Rampart Range, outside of Woodland Park, Colorado. I hung around this guy for about 20 minutes, 'shooting' him I don't know how many times. Luckily I was by myself, no one else would have had the patience for it!

Arlington's November Newsletter just came out, announcing the winners!

What's that dance when you have your arms out going in a circle called? Whatever it is, I'm doing it! :)

                           Daylight Savings Time - Someone Forgot To Tell The Dogs!

My dog is used to what time I get up in the morning. I am a bit of a night owl, and usually go to bed around midnight. I'm also one of those people that needs, no, REQUIRES , 8 hours of sleep. So, with the time change the clock still says midnight when I go to bed, and still says 8 AM when I get up. But my dog just doesn't get it.  She's waking me up at 7 AM every morning, because HER clock says it's 8 AM. I'm exhausted! LOL!

I was talking with a friend today who told me about a handicapped woman at her church. This lady has a service dog that brings her an empty medicine bottle twice a day at the appointed time to remind her to take her pills. Apparently the timing of her medication is very important. With the advent of Daylight Savings Time, she retrains her dog to bring her the reminder bottle a little earlier each day, until she's back on schedule! And then she does it again in the spring, when the clocks jump forward. I've known that service dogs are incredibly smart, but this is just amazing.

So, the question is, how does she do it? And I wonder if she'll share it with me so I can get my 8 hours back!

 Sharpening Photos Makes a Difference!

Digital cameras, whether it is a point and shoot, or a DSLR produce inherently 'soft' photos. Sharpening your photos can make a big difference.

When we use a resizing program to make our photos smaller for our blogs, the problem of 'softness' increases.

Here are a couple examples - notice how much more detail is visible:

Unsharpened                                                                      Photoshop High Pass Filter at 2.0

Unsharpened

The photo below was sharpened using FocusFixer V2 at 1.7, threshold at 60%. Look at the difference in this wolf's eyes.

Just about any photo editing program will offer a sharpening tool. And there are many ways to do it - ask 10 people what method they use, and you might expect to get 10 different answers! How much sharpening to use, and which sharpening tool to use, are all a matter of taste. I really like FocusFixer. 

If you have a favorite sharpening method or software, would you share it with us?

For a tutorial on using the high pass filter in Photoshop- click here

Then, make an action for it so it can be done in seconds anytime you need it! 

'Soft', dreamy shots can be fun too.  Just depends on the effect you want :)