Category Archives: Skywatch

Skywatch Friday – Spider Island

Spider Island - Oxley Nature Center

I had a few hours to myself last week so I went to Oxley Nature Center north of Tulsa’s airport. I only found one cache but the enjoyment is mainly in the looking. I walked up to one of the lakes and too this shot. If it looks familiar it is because it is taken from near where my blog header shot is taken. I’ve probably got two dozen pics of the same scene over the years, summer, winter, fall, spring, cloudy, clear, cold, hot, with Heather and Logan, mostly without. If there is a law against repeat photographs then I’m in for a long sentence.

I’ll have plenty of company though if I’m sent off to blogger jail. The bloggers I regularly read do similar things. A pretty or attractive scene tends to stay that way. What about you, do you repeat yourself a lot? Going back to the same scene I mean.

Linking with Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – Manual Mode Moon

#Moon #FullMoon #SturgeonMoon #SuperMoon #NoFilter #NikonD5300 #300mm

First shot I tried, then the clouds came in and out.

I have had my fancy schmancy Nikon D5300 for several months now and haven’t taken the time to really learn it. I bought a pretty good book and learn a few things but then life gets in the way and the thing is just so complex and it really does well on the Auto settting and blah, blah, blah. One thing that doesn’t work well on Auto though is taking shots of the moon. The results look like perfectly focused white disks. No color or detail or anything like that. Last Saturday we had a “Super Moon” or “Sturgeon Moon” anyway a really pretty full moon. So I got the old tripod out and then hit my good friend that knows everything Mr. Google and poked around there some.

_DSC0548

Same moon with some clouds moving in front

So I found out Auto isn’t going to work. Also, you have to have a pretty fast shutter speed at 1/125th seconds because the moon does move and most people recommended keeping the iso at about 100 to 200 and the f stop at about 8. Totally counter-intuitive to what I was thinking, max the iso, slow down the shutter speed, and open up the aperture as far as it will go. Well, the deal is that the moon is pretty bright so you have to tone things down. So I tried it and I got some decent results. (At least they are decent to me.) The main thing I couldn’t figure out was how the timer worked on the shutter. I know, I know, that is pretty lame but doing it manually very gently seemed to work out for now and I can read up on the shutter timer or use my cable release or my fancy schmancy wifi control of the camera from either my ipod or generic android cell phone.

Anyways, I learn best by doing rather than reading about how the menus work in a book. Give me a task and I will work with Mr. Google and consult a half dozen sources and then figure it out. So in addition to the timer thing, I have to figure out how to manually the focus the camera.

What is your best way of learning new things?

Linking with Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – West Side of the Tetons (Again)

Teton West Side - Topaz Restyle

Okay, I hope that you are not tired of the Teton Mountains from the Idaho side. I apologize but I love the Tetons and they are special so indulge me one last time. This is a shot from the Idaho side. Not quite as spectacular in some ideas but still remarkable.

I used Topaz Restyle to “pop” the picture a little bit.

Linking with Skywatch Friday

Here is a photograph from a few years back of the more standard east side of the Tetons that I took from the area known as Mormon Row.

Grand Teton from Mormon Row

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Skywatch Friday – The Grand Tetons from the “Quiet Side”

Tetons Restyle

Everybody knows about the Teton Mountains of Wyoming, the spectacular peaks soaring out of the west side of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  I had an uncle who had a drug store right on the square in Jackson and when I was a kid we visited him a lot so we got to see the mountains a bunch. Things are far different now than then. The gazillionaires have taken over. They have bought the ranches and built their big houses. The traffic is horrendous and prices for food lodging is ridiculous. Depressed? There is an alternative.

The west side of the Tetons overlooks the Teton Valley of Idaho. There are only about 6000 people in the whole valley and farming and ranching dominate the economy. There is no traffic and everybody is pretty laid back. It is called the “Quiet Side of the Tetons.” There is lots of history here. Lewis and Clark journeyed through the valley on their expedition. The fur trappers of the early west held their annual Rendezvous in the Valley in 1829 and 1832

You better hurry though, the signs of the early Californication of the Teton Valley are there. Big houses are going up and you can tell the tourist trade is on the upswing it appears. Word is that the Billionaires in Jackson are squeezing out the mere millionaires to the small towns of Driggs, Victor, and Tetonia.

Rainey Creek Country Store

Outside the Teton Valley to the south is Swan Valley. On your way to Swan Valley check out Rainey Creek Country Store. A small convenience store at the crossroads of Highways 26 and 31. They sell ice cream there it is pretty darn good. Especially the Huckleberry and Cream. They also use square scoops. I don’t know why but I think that the square scoops make the ice cream taste better. Why? Who knows. Check it out!

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Anybody know of an Ice Cream Meme??? Should I start one?

And a postscript, Heather and I are fans of HGTV’s House Hunters section. Here you can find an episode where this typical self obsessed TV actor couple that has ruined Jackson, Wyoming look at houses in Driggs, Idaho. A charming couple but they don’t realize how much destruction they cause.

Skywatch Friday – Countryside Skies

Porter Skies Adjust Restyle

Last Saturday we went drove out to country to fetch peaches. We parked across the street from the fruit stand and I just had to take a photo of the view with the blue sky and big ole fluffy clouds. Everybody in the city needs to get out in the country every now and then just to see what things look like without powerlines.

When was the last time you were out in the country?

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Skywatch Friday – Western Oklahoma Skies

Custer County Clouds - glow

Using Topaz Glow

Western Oklahoma is defined by its wide open spaces and big skies. It is like you can see the weather coming two days in advance. It seems flat until you actually spend time there. It is rolling with deep gullys for the creeks and rivers. The land makes you feel free and ready for anything.

Linking with Skywatch Friday

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Western Oklahoma Cowscape

Western Oklahoma Cowscape Adjust

3G Ranch, Washita County, Oklahoma

We were in western Oklahoma last weekend visiting relatives. As part of our visit we went out to check the cattle.  Usually by the time July rolls around the color is washed out of the landscape but this year with all the rain the grass was still green and belly high. I’ve spent a lot of time in western Oklahoma and I love the friendly  open people, the big sky and seas of grass across the rolling landscape.

Linking with Skywatch Friday

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