Number 16 Akaka Falls

Number 16 is a photograph of Akaka Falls on the Big Island of Hawaii. Akaka Falls is a 442 foot waterfall that is found in Akaka State Park. The state park is well maintained with a half of a mile paved trail through a thick tropical rainforest to reach not 1 but 2 waterfalls. It takes about half an hour to go around the whole trail, and it is definitely worth it.

I usually do not have very good luck when I am photographing waterfalls. Since, I am not a professional and always on vacation when I am taking my pictures it is usually hit or miss when it comes to lighting, and like most amateur photographers I do not have all day to sit and wait for the light to get better or the clouds to open up. 9 times out of 10 when I am trying to photograph a waterfall it ends being a cloudy day. So, when I took this photo I tried to minimize the sky because it was a cloudy day and focus my camera on just the waterfall and the vegetation. Not that I should be shocked it was a cloudy day Akaka Falls is on the Hilo side of the island and one of the wettest places in the United States.

To help make my picture resemble what it was really like to see the waterfall it all its majesty I used what is called the Orton-ish effect on Picnik.com which is an online photo editor to make the vegetation and the waterfall standout. The picture does not do the park or the Akaka Falls justice, but it does remind of the beauty that is the Hawaii Islands. When it comes down to it that is all I am trying to do with my photographs.

Number 17 East African Crowned Crane

Number 17 is a picture of an East African Crowned Crane taken at the Kansas City Zoo. This is was my attempt at photographic art. Karen and I try to go to Kansas City at least a couple of times a year, and one of things that we like to do while we are there is check out the zoo. They have really started to update it over the last couple of years, and their new polar bear exhibit is top class.

The Kansas City zoo, if you have never been there, can be a good workout especially their 95 acre African exhibit you walk around that thing in the middle of summer and you will burn a few calories. When you circle around the African exhibit there is a side part that takes you to the gorilla and leopard exhibits. So we decided to take the side path even though our feet had been killings us since we had been walking all around KC the previous day. I am glad we did because the light was just hitting a Crown Crane perfectly and I took a few pictures, and I was about to move on when I decided to zoom in and take a picture of its head.

I like this picture because even though my camera is not a super expensive one and it is a couple of years old now it still gets very good detail when I do everything on my part right. I really like how the individual feathers on its neck stand out, and the how the crown shines with the sunlight. I am not a very artistic person my wife leaves me in the dust in the area so this photo is about as close as I get.

Number 18 El Capitan

Number 18 is a photo of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. This photo was taken when Karen and I were on vacation with her parents. My Dad and I try to ride dirt bikes at least every summer in Colorado, and Karen usually goes if she has enough vacation days left. Since we have taken a few vacations with my parents we thought it would be nice to go someplace with her parents. It was a very lovely vacation we got to see lots of things plus I did not have to do any of the driving. Not that I mind or anything, but when you are traveling someplace as beautiful as Yosemite park is it is nice not to have your eyes on the road the whole time. I still feel bad that Karen’s Dad did all the driving and had to keep his eyes on the road at least we hoped his eyes were on the road.

Well anyway, as we were driving through the park the first couple of days the sun was not really cooperating usually it was hiding behind a bunch of clouds, and as we were taking the Northside Drive road the sun broke out from the clouds and lit up El Capitan. I rolled down the window as fast as I could and snapped as many photos as I could. I would have asked Paul to stop, but it would have caused a traffic jam. The park had just started to fill up since it was late Friday afternoon on Memorial weekend. I am happy that I had my camera ready and the sun finally cooperated.

Number 19 Devils Tower

Number 19 is a photograph of Devil’s Tower in eastern part of Wyoming. One summer Karen and I did a 2 week long vacation from Oklahoma City to 6 other states and hit 5 national parks. On our way there we stopped off to see Devil’s Tower. It really is a sight to behold not as big as you would think, but still pretty massive. We took two short hikes while we were there, one of them circumnavigated the tower and other took us by a black-tailed prairie dog town. Those little guys get to squeaking anytime you walked within 10 feet of them. We would have liked to spend more time there and hopefully we will get to go back soon.

I like this photo because of the circle of sacred smoke that frames the tower so nice, but it also highlights the Native American significance of Devil’s Tower. The legend of three Native American maidens picking flowers when they startled a large bear. The girls ran to a tree stump and huddled and prayed. When a lightning bolt struck the tree stump causing it to rise into the heavens made the bear so angry it clawed at the stump giving it the groves that can be seen today. Legend or not Devil’s Tower is a very special place for all visitors.

Number 20 Central Station in Kansas City

Number 20 is a black and white photograph of the Grand Central Station in Kansas City. Karen and I met her sister Julie and Julie’s husband (who just happens to be my best friend) Neil in Kansas City to go the renaissance fair, which if you like that sort of thing I highly recommend it. It takes place every fall and I have been going off and on since I was little. Well, we went to the renaissance fair early in the morning and were there for a few hours when we went to an outdoor shopping mall called the legends for lunch. Karen and I always have a good time when we get to hang out with Julie and Neil, and they were not quite ready to head home. So we decided to head down town without a map, mind you, to find the central station. Neither of us had been to the Grand Central Station and just looking at the architecture was really enlightening.

I put the picture in black and white because I feel it captures the feelings of that old building much better than a color picture would. When I look at the picture I feel like it is from an old black and white movie and it feels regal. My imagination starts to run and I see it as scene from a Humphrey Bogart movie. It is old Hollywood magic.

Number 21 Seven Eleven Crab

Number 21 is a photograph of a seven-eleven crab that I took while snorkeling on the Big Island of Hawaii. Karen and I took a 9 day vacation on the Big Island. If I ever won the lottery (hard to do since I do not play) I would move out to Hawaii for a couple of years. It is such a beautiful place. I could go snorkeling every day for the rest of my life and never get tired of it. Each day of our vacation we would snorkel in the morning to beat any crowds to the beach, and our favorite spot was Makaiwa Bay at the Mauna Lani. We could not afford to stay there, but they have this nice little parking lot for visitors to park so they can use the public beach that is on their property.

At Makaiwa Bay there was a lava rock formation that breaks the bay about 200 yards from the beach, and after going there a couple of times we noticed that a green sea turtle had made a home under a coral bed. Karen and I had been snorkeling all morning and before we left we wanted to check out to see if the turtle was still there. We did not see him the first time we circumnavigated the lava rock so we went around again, and that is when I saw a peach shape on the green coral. I took a deep breath and dove down to investigate. It was the first time I had seen a seven-eleven crab so I took a few pictures surfaced and tried to point out his location to Karen, but it was too late, he had disappeared. I am glad the photo came out. We did see the turtle as we rounded the rock, and yes he was heading back to his little den in the sea.

Number 22 Dallas Zoo Zebra

Number 22 is a black and white photograph of a zebra at the Dallas Zoo. The Dallas zoo was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. A lot of the reviews from various websites said that the Fort Worth Zoo was a better Texas zoo to go to. Of course, like most zoos, one day it can be great because the animals are active and the next time you go half the animals are not out or they are already sleeping. We took a long weekend in October to go down to Corpus Christi Texas and one of the nights we stayed in Dallas. The next morning we decided to go to the zoo instead of the aquarium or the art museum in Dallas. Karen knows how much I like going to zoos. One of the things in my bucket list is to go on safari in Africa. I hope that happens someday, but as for now I will just have to stick to going to zoos.

This picture was taken at the new exhibit at the Dallas Zoo called the Giants of the Savanna. I have to say it is probably the best African exhibit of any of the zoos that I have been to. I really like how they have combined several species into a large area instead of having them all fenced off from each other. They had elephants, giraffes, gazelles, and zebras all in the same area. I changed this photo to black and white to make the stripes of the zebra pop. A person could imagine a herd of the zebras running this way and how the stripes really help distract their predators.

Number 23 Mariposa Grove

Number 23 is a picture of the massive Sequoyah trees in Yosemite National Park.
The day the picture was taken was a very cloudy day with very light snow, and you have my day at Yosemite. My Wife and her parents and I all went out to Yosemite National Park at the end of May. I had read that it is the best time to go to see the waterfalls, and we were not disappointed. Unfortunately, the park had received a record amount of snow fall for that year, and a lot of the park was shut down or we had to wait hours for them to clear the road. The first day we were at the park we could not go down to the valley unless you had snow chains, and since we had a rental car we could not put chains on without violating the lease. So, the first day we spent our time up at the Mariposa Grove area, which was really amazing. Growing up in the Central Plains you really do not get very many chances to see gigantic trees or in some cases very many trees at all. Walking around the Mariposa Grove was like taking a ride through a time machine. I kept trying to imagine what it was like 500, 1000, 2000 years ago when some of those trees were just saplings. It was really awe inspiring and made you realize how short our own life-spans are.

I really like this picture not because of its clarity or the color the time of day, and cloud cover made sure I was not going to have proper light, but I did not care. I figured I might not ever make it out to Yosemite again so I took plenty of pictures. I am sure my in-laws thought I was nuts. I really like this picture because it shows just how massive the trees are. The bottom trunks of the trees were literally the same width as the cabin. No picture gives justice to the mighty Sequoyah, and I am just happy that I finally got to see them with my own two eyes.

Number 24 Everglades Sunrise

Number 24 is a picture of the early sunrise at Everglades National Park. All serious photographers know that early sunrise or right before sunset is the prime time for taking photographs. Unfortunately for me I am not a serious enough photographer to get up early in the morning to take a picture especially on vacation. This picture is one of the few sunrise pictures I have in my collection.

Karen and I got a new cell phone, and part of the deal was free airline tickets. It sounded like a good deal at the time because we both needed new cell phones. Well, we thought about it long and hard and after our first two choices were on black-out dates we ended up taking a flight to Miami. Slight problem it was a flight from Oklahoma to Michigan to Florida. It took roughly 12 hours, and by the time we got there it was 2:00 in the morning. Instead of paying for a hotel room for barely eight hours we decided to drive down to the Everglades, since it is open 24 hours. By the time we ate at a Denny’s in the southern part of Miami we made it to the Everglades around 5:00am.

That Everglades morning was beautiful, mist was forming with the rising sun, and to see the birds and alligators was like walking back in time. Karen and I walked around the Anhinga trail, and we were both amazed, but by the time we were done with the trail Karen was starting to feel really sick. She ended up sleeping for the rest of the time we were in the Everglades, but we both will not forget the very early morning stroll in the national park.

Number 25 Delicate Arch

Number 25 was taken in Arches National Park, and it is the iconic picture of Delicate Arch. It is probably the most photographed arch in the park, and if you have seen one picture of the Delicate Arch it is almost like any other. The reason that it is my 25th favorite photograph is because it is a must have. If a person collected photographs like they did Football cards it would be like having a John Elway rookie (arguably the greatest quarterback of all time and I am a Chiefs fan) It is special and nice, but a lot of people have one.

It is special to me because the first time I saw this particular Arch was after a full day of hiking in Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, and like the 22 year old idiot that I was I did not drink enough water that day. It is not a very long hike 1.5 miles and most people would say it is mildly strenuous mostly uphill, but I did not know if I was going to make it. It was early August and I was dehydrated, but it was the only day I was going to be in the area so I was darn sure I was going to make the hike.

A funny thing did happen on the way up. I met a nice German family that spoke very little English and had missed a few cairns along the way, and seemed to be looking at me for help. Well, lucky for them I had mastered the 3 German words that I know guten tag, ja, and nein. With those three words, along with some hand gestures, we were able to find are way to the top. It ended up working out perfectly because they took a picture of me in front of the Arch and I took a picture for them.

I have since made the trip to Arches two more times, and for me every time I turn that last corner and see Delicate Arch it still takes my breath away. If you have never seen Delicate Arch in person before I highly recommend it.

P.S. Make sure you drink plenty of water!!!

Photography Adventures

We are not professional photographers by any way, shape or size, but it has become one of the things that we are passionate about. Well, I am passionate about it and my wife Karen is passionate about cheering me on. She has become my photo cheerleader after most shots that I show her unless, it is totally blurred or off by a large margin. I get the customary that’s a great photo! Not that I am complaining about her constant praise everybody needs a good cheerleader when it comes to a hobby and my wife is one of the best.

What photo know-how that I have has been gained in one of two ways trying to imitate others or by reading. I have checked out a lot of books from the local library and later went out and bought “How to Photograph Absolutely Everything” by Tom Ang and the “National Geographic Photography Field Guide.” I have found both of those books to be great all-around books that have opened my eyes to seeing new photographic opportunities.

I have two cameras both by Cannon. My everyday camera is a Cannon Powershot SX10IS which is great all around camera. Karen and I love to snorkel so I had to talk her into getting an underwater camera so she let me buy a Cannon Powershot D10. Currently I am trying to talk her into springing for a DSLR. I think that is going to have to wait for a while, but I believe that I am slowly wearing her down.

I am going to show a little bit of my photography portfolio over the next couple of months. I am going to post my 25 favorite photos that I have taken since Karen and I have been together. I hope you enjoy!!!