All posts tagged: Getchius

When Everyone Else Turns Left, Turn Right Instead!

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Having lived out west for years now, we’ve gotten to know Rocky Mountain (RMNP) and Yellowstone. They are two very different parks with different landscapes and wildlife, but both are so very special. Everyone has seen recent articles of how busy the parks are, especially this past summer when so many families said they were traveling hell or high water! In 2019, approximately 4.67 MILLION people passed through the gates of RMNP to appreciate its beauty, majesty and wildlife. Currently parts of the park, especially the back country, remain closed due to the damage and instability caused by the summer’s destructive wildfires. The purpose of this blog is to share a little insight if you care to visit RMNP anytime soon. Go early! The earlier you’re in the park the better. There are fewer people, the animals are more active and the light is amazing. When we travel we often get into the parks before 6 am, go back to our hotel about 10 am and relax while the people file in! Then, we head …

2021 Time To Get Going

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2020 is behind us. I doubt it is an overstatement to say we are all glad it is now a memory. I have been sitting around way too much. It is time to venture out into the world and discover all that it has to offer. Oh, April and I will be safe. We are not stupid. But hey, enough is enough. I am tired of feeling old. Trying to stay active while most of the time being surrounded by the same old walls is not really good for a person my age and health. Each day is a new day and if I let it it will be full of new discoveries and new possibilities. To motivate myself I have started to putting together a portfolio website. Just a website of some of my favorite photographs. Each month on this portfolio website we will have a whole new collection of photos. Hopefully they will be quality photographs of what April and I experienced the month before. There will not be any words describing the …

New Mexico – Desert and History!

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Well…she’s baaack! I have been remiss in preparing a blog – I think the whole quarantine has created a malaise that makes it hard to stay motivated, but I’m back! I’m going to retrace my steps, so to speak. As for all of us, the whole lockdown due to COVID-19 has been wearing and our options for things to do somewhat limited. As the restrictions begin to lift, we are hoping we can begin to get out and about and explore the beautiful country safely. This may turn into more of a travel blog than a photography blog, but should be fun nonetheless, especially as Craig expands my photography lessons. I’m sure there will be plenty to laugh about! So in the spirit of retracing my steps, I’ll revisit a trip we took before all the isolation and lockdowns. Before the COVID-19 hit, we wanted to get away from the cold weather here in Colorado. We got in the car and headed south to New Mexico as I noted in the last blog. Well, that …

Watching her learn is fun

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My wife has slowly been learning how to video. Here is a link to an example of her work in progress at White Sands National Park. The video is raw and some of the video was captured with a dirty sensor. When I have time I am going to have to remove those sensor spots. That is not as easy in video as it is with digital photographs. Still, the video is rather enjoyable to watch. I have to admit I have really enjoyed watching her learn how to video. Both my wife and I are not exactly young in age. Yet, in so many ways we are still young at heart. Learning new things helps keep life interesting. Also being around someone who is enjoying experiencing new ways of looking at life is enriching to me. Getting out, though not around other people, sure has made life easier during the pandemic. I am so lucky to have a love one around me during these trying times. CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO Notes: All the …

A Simple Stuck At Home Photo Project.

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Macro photography is not my forte and yes, this photo is rather cliche. Nevertheless taking this viola flower photo was rather fun and easy to do. Wish I had a different color background and a spray bottle to mist the flower. Tonight I just might raid the wife’s fabric stash that she using for her various sewing project. Ace Hardware is open so I might also stop by the store and pick up a bottle to spray flowers. Anyway, this photograph was from a single candescent light. The viola was placed in a pan of water that was wrapped in black fabric and the same black fabric was used as a background. The water with the black fabric underneath helped create the reflection of the flower. Moving the light source around will create different degrees of reflection of the flower in the water. To keep the flower from falling over I weighed it down with a paper clip. The camera I used was the the Nikon D850 and the lens was a AF-S Micro NIKKOR …

Stuck At Home, Keeping Your Photography Skills Sharp

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On Instagram the photographer Joe McNally, posted a wonderful idea of how to keep your photographic skills sharp while waiting out the Corona Virus. Here is the the link: https://www.instagram.com/tv/B-w8pN7AJSt/?igshid=1gt4aes1pu3xn Joe McNally is famous for his flash photography. If you want to check out his images go here: https://portfolio.joemcnally.com/index I have a pretty good collection of tabletop photo books. On this Easter Sunday I am enjoying and studying the book “Bill Brandt Shadow & Light.” As I turn the pages and admire Brandt’s wonderful black and white images I am getting the overwhelming urge to get out and capture the world through my viewfinder. Also, photo project ideas are starting to race around in my head. In my To Do app I have started a brainstorm category and am listing all my photo project ideas and types of creative photography and videos I would like to do. I can’t wait to start getting back out into this wonderful world of ours. I bet that will happen sooner than I imagine. One of my brainstorms was …

Photo From A Moving Car (Photo 1)

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Well, have you ever been a passenger in a car and while riding along you felt total boredom. Yep, recently that happened to me. So I grabbed my Nikon D500, rolled down the window and started shooting at various shutter speeds. The slower the shutter speed the more sense of movement is shown in the photo. Yet when the shadow of your car is captured in the photo it is relatively sharp in comparison to the rest of the photo. This is panning in reverse instead of moving the camera, your camera is still yet moving at the same speed as the car. You can create a lot of cool effects doing this. Both the photo above and below where taken from a moving car with the camera’s shutter speed at 1/8 of a second. The car was moving much faster in the black and white photo in comparison to the color photo. Give it a try sometime, it is fun.

A Quick Pullover

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I learned my photography with the help of Kodak Film. Black and white photos came to life in my basement using Kodak chemicals. When shooting color I would use Kodachrome 25 or 64. I have fond memories of those days. I was discovering and  learning. And darn it taking a pic with film, developing the film, then creating a contact strip and finally an enlargement, fills one with great satisfaction and accomplishment. Doing that work is tedious, yet awarding. In the days of film there was no instant gratification and boy, you really had to know the craft of photography. Mistakes were permanent and rarely did you have the opportunity to go back and retake the moment. I had to nail the photo and when it was all finished and I had created what what I had visualized the print to be, I would experience a creative high that would last for days. Today in the digital world I don’t experience that euphoria. It is all instant gratification and the feeling of happiness of nailing …

A two mile hike

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When you visit Rocky Mountain National Park don’t just drive around in your car.  Get out and take a little hike.  If you take a little two mile hike chances are you are going to come across something truly spectacular.  If you get up early in the morning and start your hike, lets say before 7:00 AM, the chances are good it will just be you and mother nature.  My friends, if you do such a hike you will experience a happiness and tranquility that will continue to be part of you for many days afterwards. Yes, it is that easy to find fulfillment.  I know it sounds corny but it is true. – CLG