Epic Status Photoblog

We went camping at Rock Creek State Park near Kellogg and Newton.

 

 

Ken busted out the slack line to test everyone’s balance.

 

 

 

 

Abe found a pair of “Antlers.”

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting findings along the nature trail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After patiently waiting for them to align at the right moments, these random kids made decent subjects.

 

 

I needed a foreground object to place against the sky colors.  Unfortunately it was chow time and the sun was setting fast.  Ben and Abe became victims of chow face syndrom.

Greatest Hits, Nature, Outdoor, People, Travel

We went camping somewhere other than the Saylorville area this time.  Island Park in Adel Iowa was a great alternative and just as close to Des Moines.  Not to mention it’s right beside Adel, providing easy access to necessities.

 

Bonnie and Josh’s combined children show their superhero strength.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Richard got the rest of us in trouble with our significant others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In case anyone wonders, my camera takes some good pictures.  Luckily there’s no human intervention needed, it does it’s job then lets me know when it’s done.  Now if I can only teach it to cook for me.  But then again, my pans cook some really tasty food anyway.

 

 

We met this assumably remotely rural lad while he walked through our camp to get to the Raccoon river.  He stood at our camp for a little while, telling us stories about his pa, ma, and other family members.  After we couldn’t stand to hear any more we had to tell him to “run along now.”  Nice kid, if not tear jerkingly boring.  They must not have any neighbors or schools in his area.  The kid sure can hold a fishing pole for a 8-hour shift, let me tell ya.

 

 

Island Park Adel, Electric Sites

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The gals played the game telephone with the kids.  Amusing.

Attractions, Greatest Hits, Nature, Night, Outdoor, Parties, People

My NAS (Nikon Acquisition Syndrom) continues.  I decided I have to have a medium long-range lens to add range.  The economy Nikkor 55-200mm VR fit the bill for this use.  

 

Not only does it give me better reach for when I can’t get up close, but also it adds the ability to compose images differently because your angle changes.

 

 

I can better capture people without them knowing or being anywhere near them, great for street photography when I don’t feel like getting caught.

 

 

 

 

 

Nice bokeh.  Notice how the background is soft and out of focus.  Using a wide aperture with a longer lens will result in this narrow depth of field which can be placed at your preferred distance to add bokeh where you want it.

 

 

 

Nature, Outdoor, People, Street Photography

? Came back for more shots of the bridge at Gray’s Lake.

 

 

 

The? tallest of the downtown buildings can be? seen in the background.

 

 

Attractions, Des Moines, Nature, Night, Outdoor

? Went to Gray’s Lake in the evening, to check out the fireworks from Principal Park, Following the Icubs game.? I’ll have to find a better spot next time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The angle prevented me from capturing all? the colored lenses on the lights of the Grays Lake bridge.

Animals, Attractions, Des Moines, Nature, Night, Outdoor

Took some photos while en route back to Des Moines from Dubuque, IA.

 

 

 

 

Cars, Greatest Hits, Nature, Outdoor, Travel

 

 

 

Nature, Outdoor

 

? Can’t decide which is better, so here’s the other.? If I didn’t overexpose the top leaves in the first one, there wouldn’t be any question about it.? I’ll have to go back and try this again sometime.

 

 

 

 

Frankenstein Tree, half alive and half dead.

Nature, Night, Outdoor

Where’s Waldo?? We got a more scenic camping site at Jester Park this year.? It’s a lot more popular over here on the edge of the lake, but I thought it was worth it.? I got to play with my super-wide angle lens some more.? The girls weren’t impressed when they learned that they’ll look fat if they’re towards the edge of the frame.

 

 

? Roots

 

 

Richard and Brad found some “walking sticks.”? Richard came charging up a path to the lake with his stick.? This family didn’t find our antics to be very funny.? After we were done trespassing on their campsite, they resumed their impressions of skits from the Lawrence Welk Show.

 

? Check out our walking sticks

 

 

Stephanie brought out the preschool posse for the day.

 

Time-out photo-shoot.? Great for kids that can’t stand still.

 

 

Sip and pass

 

? “Stop it, that’s my friend”

 

 

 

Time to cook some grub

 

? More Dave Hill affect.

 

Camping and Recreation in IA

 

 

Not much later, a few cop cars came down and swarmed a campsite a few down from us.? We felt comfortable again, like we never voyaged a few miles from the city at all.

Attractions, Greatest Hits, Nature, Night, Outdoor, Parties, People, Travel

I spent an hour or two driving around different parts of Saylorville Lake, trying to find photo ops.

 

Saylorville lake seems almost like a large pond to me, since you can see the opposite shore from anywhere.? Growing up in the Milwaukee area, we spent a lot of time at Lake Michigan.? I’ve been? to Lake Michigan in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan.

 

 

This is the wildest I’ve ever seen the tides here.? The lake is probably larger at the moment due to the flooding.

 

? Wide angle affects and Dave Hill affect.

 

Plenty of land between Saylorville Lake and Des Moines hasn’t been sold out to developers yet.

 

View from atop the Saylorville Dam

 

 

The outlet of the Dam, where it becomes the Des Moines River again.

 

 

I still haven’t figured out how the water coming out maintains a height much lower than the river.? Unless it’s an illusion, the water rises maybe? 15 feet or so from the pipe to the river.? The sheer power of the water coming out is amazing.

Attractions, Greatest Hits, Nature, Outdoor, Travel

? Cherish forgot to reserve Saturday off from work, so we just came to visit Friday.? We? camped here at Jester Park on? Saturday night.? This was my first day with my new Sigma 10-20mm wide-angle lens.? As of last I heard, this is still the widest rectilinear lens available for any digital camera.

 

 

 

 

? Koombaya?

 

? Master chef Pee-Wee grills up some fish.

 

 

? Not really sure

 

Nature, Night, Outdoor, Parties, People, Travel

? No, not that kind!

We went hunting for the elusive delicacy known as the Morel mushroom.? The Morel mushroom is the favorite of many mushroom lovers.? They only appear for a short period during spring each year.? We searched a few spots just South of Des Moines, at the very head end? of Morel season.

 

 

 

 

? Never having seen this area, I was surprised by how densely wooded it was.? Iowa isn’t exactly known for? its vast forests.

 

? Limbs and full trees littered the ground of this rare untouched woodland area, downed by the ice storm of this last winter.?

 

Here is a morel mushroom.? Usually they? look much nicer, this was a less fresh find.? Before you go grubbing down shroomz, you should read up about identifying the poisonous ones.? Hallucinations may be? fun, but some varieties can kill you from eating only one shroom cap.? The Missouri Conservation department has a page to help identify poisonous mushrooms? in this area.? Especially note the “false morel” species.? Species in your area may differ.? It’s recommended that you start out following experienced shroom seekers.

 

? Another Morel, the discoloration shows that it’s not the freshest.

 

 

 

 

? We run into another Morel mushroom hunter, on the left.? This area is popular because it’s well suited for mushroom growth.

 

? A better find.

 

? Even better.? This Morel is much closer to how the freshest look.

 

? Like a needle in a hay stack.

 

? We moved to a new location, near the extra land owned by the Des Moines International Airport.

 

 

A? different species of mushroom that doesn’t quite look appetizing.

 

? Found what appears to be a decaying deer on an island surrounded by creeks.? The nearby area has steep muddy banks, possibly it injured a leg and couldn’t move on.? Looks like something feasted on him.

 

 

Mushrooms, it’s what’s for dinner.? Before they’re ready to eat, they need to be soaked in water and salt.? This helps get the dirt and bugs out.? It’s amazing how many bugs get inside them.? They taste best sliced and pan fried in a egg/flour batter.

Des Moines, Nature

Pretty pink, baby blue.

 

 

Nature, Night

I’m a model you know what I mean, and I do my little turn on the catwalk.? ? Cherish bought a leash for our socialite? explorer female cat Conquistador (“Keesy”).? We decided to finally give it a go and take her for a walk.?

 

Yes ma’am, we’re walking a cat.? Everyone that we encountered thought it was so amazingly cute.? I guess I have to admit it’s the first time I’ve ever seen a cat walked like a dog.

 

 

Compared to most cats she has more personality traits much like a dog, but she lacked in focusing on continually? moving forward.? There was some zig-zagging and back-tracking.? Maybe some training would help.? Hmm… I’ll take one dead mouse hanging from a stick please.

 

? Conquistador’s eyes glow in the dark

 

Animals, Nature, Night

Walking along the nature trail

 

? Over the creek and through the woods… and? grandmother lives in Milwaukee, wanna fight about it?

 

? Bridge goes over creek

 

? What is this I see?? ? Six deer in the grass by the nature trail.? This mini woods is in the middle of the city and surrounded by houses and buildings on all sides.? I would have expected to see homeless hanging out here (like by Gray’s Lake) more than deer.

 

? Oh, you see me too?? I was real careful not to make any sudden movements.? These young deer were so urbanized they not only hung out beside us two for 10 minutes, but a couple of them almost walked right up to us.

 

? Let’s get a move on.? The horny deer furthest to the right tries to mount the one ahead of it.

 

Each deer looks and pauses before crossing.? Smart.

 

? The deer run through the field along the trail up towards the busy street.? I’m not sure where they went or if they crossed, but I didn’t see any blood in the street the next day.

 

 

? Evening bike ride

 

? Gorgeous sunset

 

? Bare tree with many missing limbs from the ice storm

 

 

Animals, Nature

? Left Lance’s for a little bit this night and went over to Jason’s to get his camera.

 

In the middle of the blizzard.? Good thing we? didn’t have to go very far.?

 

? Nice photo!

 

? Great metal work.? This must weigh a ton, it’s thick steel.

 

Jason? worked in photo journalism for a newspaper in Kentucky.? The vignetting on this picture happened naturally with no editing.? Not sure how it happened, but I like how smooth and it is.? Sometimes you get something that you weren’t trying to do, but you like it better.

Nature, Night

2007 Blizzard in the house…

 

It started with droplets of water freezing on the trees.

 

? The snow sticks to the icy trees.

 

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? The combination weighs too much and snaps branches.? These tall bushes should be standing vertically.

 

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? See all the horizontal branches, broken from the ice and snow.

 

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Snow on trees like peanutbutter on bread

 

? The wind blew the snow into large drifts.? The Iowa DOT reported that there were some roads that had drifts up to 15 feet high in other areas of the state.? I-235 and I-80 were both closed and blocked off because they were deemed impassible.? There were hundreds of semi trucks stuck in the Des Moines area because of the closing.? See the Iowa DOT 2007 blizzard photo album? for some awesome pictures.

Nature