Sometimes it’s hard to decide whether to cast to rising fish or make images of the scenery…

As some of you know, I am an avid fly fisherman. In the past I have typically put in 50-60 days a year on the water chasing those elusive trout that inhabit the magical streams that I am fortunate enough to be able to have in my back yard.

This year has been a little different though. We had a bad winter, and I had a busy spring.

Last night I made my 7th trip of the year. Heather talked me into an after work trip, and we decided to visit Todd Lake. When we arrived we noticed that it was a bit breezy, and full of mosquitoes. We headed out anyway.

I finally landed my first trout of the year. It was rather difficult to concentrate on the fishing though as there was a tremendous display of wildflowers in all directions. Here are some images:

Tomorrow it’s Crane and Davis with Jon. It should be a good time.

Gary

This last week I became obsessed with trying to make an image that included a pass of the International Space Station. I checked my maps and angles, decided on a location, and went out for a test shot.

The timing was critical as the moon was full and the nights are short. I had to plan for a small window after the moon set and the sun rose…

The view was good, but the exposure was started too early. The fading sunset blew out the horizon. So, I tried again the next night, only an hour later.

Much better. Now, all I have to do is time the hour-long exposure for a very early morning a couple of days from now.

On the evening prior to my scheduled outing, I decided to stay up late and double check my options. This one isn’t so good…

Nor this one…

I went home to take a short nap and headed back out again at 3:30AM. I set up the camera, started the exposure, and saw the ISS fly right through the frame. When I went to close the shutter I noticed that the camera was off. My prior exploration had used just enough batteries that the hour-long exposure and depleted them.

Drats!

Not to be defeated, I studied the coordinates again and headed out the next evening. The ISS was going to be crossing at a more reasonable 9:52PM at a more southerly location. I decided to head up into the mountains and point the camera south. There was still some lingering daylight so the exposure time was reduced to 8 minutes, but I finally captured something close to what I wanted. It’s not the best, but I like it.

Gary

It’s been pretty busy around here lately, so I’ve been slacking a bit at posting…

I’ve been spending a lot of time with my kids. We’re having a good start to the summer, but anyone that has a teenager (especially a teenage daughter) knows that sometimes things can get a little rough. The last few days have been that way for me. I hope things turn around soon.

Here’s a belated look at 584 seconds of our lives from last Friday nights fireworks display:

That’s me and the kids in the bottom left corner…

And one from earlier in the day:

I’m hoping to spend some time outside this weekend. I really need it.

Gary