The cabin I’ve stayed in during my shifts there is a total loss.

These  pictures were taken by a friend who is a volunteer in the same program where I work.  All pictures were taken from the south rim.

Tragic!

Saturday   July 26.  Afternoon, evening, and 10:00PM that night

Sunday  July 27. Afternoon and Evening

Monday  July 28

Globlin State Park, Hanksville, UT

Capitol Reef NP -  Torrey, UT

Bryce Canyon NP

Zion NP

Shafer Trail - Moab

 7 Mile Rim - Moab

Castle Valley - Moab

This female wasn’t the least bit concerned about me as she was eating right next to the trail.  I love early mornings before the trails get busy.

This was taken less than a 1/4 mile from the rim.

Looking down on Ooh Ahh point from just a bit more than 1/2 mile below the rim.  So nice to hike in this much shade

Monsoon action every afternoon.  Only hiked in the rain one day.  
Humid, hot, no cloud cover until about noon.  
 

This makes it worth while.

Mr. Ram was a couple switchbacks below 1.5 mile rest house.  He would peer over the edge of the boulder at me and then disappear.  
Like a Disney animatronic .

This shot was taken with a bit of zoom.

I was so close to him here I had to step back to edge of the trail to get this shot.  No zoom.

This is looking back down on him from a couple switchbacks up trail.

Many animals in this area due to (another) pipeline break that left the water turned off at the 1.5 and 3 mile rest houses.  The break was leaking enough to water the animals.

Im no photographer but with subjects like this it’s hard to take a bad picture.

Along with helping folks, scenery like this makes it all worthwhile.

We are truly  blessed to live in a state with such beauty.   . 

Ranger Kevin said he’s never seen one this far south in the 14 years he’s been at the park.

Hopefully for the bear’s health he heads back North into the Tonto NF and not south toward Cave Creek.

I was headed up, almost finished with a shift, a few switchbacks from the top in a section we refer to as “the chimney“ when heard a few rocks rolling down.  
I looked up a small side cut in the canyon wall and a big horn Ram stepped out on to the trail about 25 feet in front of me!  I started to back down the trail and the Ram thankfully headed up the next switchback.

This was taken when I got my phone out of my pocket and backed a safe distance away.   Note the two hikers headed downhill. 

Ram is headed up the hikers are  headed down and I’m trying to warn the hikers without spooking the ram.

This photo is a bit deceptive.  It doesn’t really show that the canyon wall sticks  out a bit and the hikers can’t yet see the ram

Now they see each other!

The Ram politely gives up the trail to the hikers and steps off.

He's now headed for a shady overhang that’s not so crowded.

skip to 21:21 for some epic water & snow shots if you're short on time.

I was down trail about 3/4 of a mile and could hear a pounding? noise coming from around the next switchback.  I thought at first some kid was banging on a tree with a rock.  Don’t laugh, it happens.

Turns out it was two big horn sheep butting heads!  
By the time I turned the corner the larger ram had driven off the younger one.  

I didn’t witness the altercation but later saw a video of it taken by one of the hikers you can see in the background.

This shot was taken with my phone.  Std. setting, no zoom.  This was as close as I wanted to get.

 

Zoomed in.

Ive seen quite a few sheep this year, especially early morning,  but never this close.

so i upgraded to a used Google Pixel 3. the camera is ranked pretty well - not as good as the absolute latest Samsung or iPhone models, but i just couldn't see spending nearly a grand on a phone right now. the used Pixel 3 with a perfect screen but some scratches on the sides and back was $280.

i went out to test the camera a little yesterday afternoon.

• double-clicking the power button launches the camera and then the volume button works as shutter. that's similar to how my G6 worked and i was very happy to not lose that physical button shortcut.
• camera overall produces sharp and colorful images. colors may be a tad oversaturated.
• i found the "HDR+" setting is pretty realistic, only slightly heavy handed sometimes. the "Enhanced HDR+" setting is way too much for my tastes though. 
• digital zoom still sucks (like on every camera) even with Google's AI algorithms that are supposed to make it better.
• the pano and photo sphere features work well and are easy to access.
• the portrait mode fake bokeh feature does not work well with nature photography. the lens will still give you a little bit of that shallow depth-of-field effect naturally though.
• image stabilization works well with still photos in terms of preventing blurriness from shaky hands. i've haven't tested shooting video yet.
• i haven't tested the much touted low light capabilities yet.

check out the article on PetaPixel here..

don't get too excited, this is the sort of image they're after (from spaceweathergaller.com)

i'm wondering if @4x4tographer or any other members here have managed to snag a photo of the ISS?

I had ny wife hold the dogs further back behind me. We were up on a ridge above him so I was covered pretty well.

Anywho, this is what I managed to get as he ran in and stopped right in front of me down below.

We hear then all the time during the week so I suppose this is where they're always making a racket.

Yote - Running In by Jason Montes, on Flickr

Yote - Close 1 by Jason Montes, on Flickr

Yote - Broad by Jason Montes, on Flickr

Yote - Backside by Jason Montes, on Flickr

Yote - Close Effect by Jason Montes, on Flickr

We started out seeing animals right away. We saw a bunch of Mule deer on the trail to the trailhead.

On our way back we had a bear encounter!

My wife had fallen and bruised her knee a little. So we stopped and gave her a moment. Then as we picked up down the trail again, no less than 10 yards later my dogs growled harshly. I looked up to see a huge Bear running across the trail about 25 yards in front of us!

The dogs went crazy but I maintained a good grip on the leashes. The bear took off down and then up the next ridge.

Happened so fast!

Ive never seen a wild bear before, so that was crazy. I was packing but still, it could have gotten bad real quick at that distance.

Bear was probably about 400-500 pounds. A pretty big one.

As we got back to the jeep I looked at the map closer and we were parked by Bear Tank and hiking in Bear Canyon, go figure!

_DSC0305.NEF by Jason Montes, on Flickr

_DSC0306.NEF by Jason Montes, on Flickr

_DSC0309.NEF by Jason Montes, on Flickr

_DSC0314.NEF by Jason Montes, on Flickr

There are tons of colorful birds out today! Our neighbor has a bird feeder and squirrel box so they come right up!

I dont know what kind of bird this is, but theyre out in force!

_DSC0153.NEF by Jason Montes, on Flickr

_DSC0155.NEF by Jason Montes, on Flickr

Im trying to get some pics of the Woodpeckers and Robins I keep seeing but theyre a little more skiddish.

Source & LOTS more info here: Atlas Obscura

Atlas Obscura is joining forces with National Parks at Night to offer you a one-of-a-kind night photography workshop. Accompanied by two expert photography instructors, we’ll explore the more than 130 towering desert sculptures surrounding Borrego Springs, a number of which pay tribute to creatures that once roamed this same desert.

Borrego Springs is one of 16 International Dark Sky Communities, making it the perfect place to host our four-day workshop. The celestial core will break the horizon around 10:30 p.m. each night, with many of the spectacular sculptures aligning as perfect foreground subjects for the constellations. During the day we'll learn about light painting, night techniques, and post-processing. At night we’ll allow ourselves to be transported back in time—outfitted with 21st-century lenses—by the mesmerizing swath of light cast by the billions of stars in the Milky Way.

This hands-on workshop is limited to only 14 students.

INTRODUCING OUR PARTNER: NATIONAL PARKS AT NIGHT

National Parks at Night (NPAN) has been leading photo programs for the last three years. Their team of educators has been inspiring passionate students to “Seize the Night” with videos, workshops, speaking engagements, and articles featuring locations all over the world. NPAN aims to visit every National Park in America over the next 10 years—at night, camera in hand.

TRIP COST

A $500 deposit is required to secure your spot. This deposit is nonrefundable after three days. We have a limited capacity, and we expect the trip to fill quickly. The trip will cost $1,395 ($500 deposit plus $895 final payment) and will cover all workshop activities, including daily lectures, image review sessions, photo instruction in the field, and post-processing. The cost also includes a daily breakfast buffet at the hotel, snacks and water throughout, and our final group dinner. Accommodation at Palm Canyon Hotel and Resort is not included, but our travelers will receive a 10 percent discount on rooms or vintage trailers.

i'm finding it very easy to use, though i've only touched the surface and not dug into any of the more powerful features yet.

there's one glaring feature omission though - a photo browser/organizer (i.e. thumbnail view). Skylum says that feature should be ready early this year, but i'm holding off purchasing till i see how that pans out.

i haven't used Adobe Lightroom for at least 2 major versions, so i can't say how Luminar really compares. i'm still using Google's Picasa (gasp!) for organizing and quick lighting/color changes along with Photoshop CS6 for any major edits. i've been looking for something simpler than Photoshop but more powerful than Picasa. i don't really want to start paying for the Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, so Luminar's traditional licensing and cost of only $69 is very appealing.

here's the results of playing around in Luminar for a little over an hour (the dark heavily stylized look is intentional). i didn't bother to do any careful brush masks, instead just moving quickly with some radial masks sized around the Jeep and global adjustments.

and the original photo, as shot:

this was just a JPG taken with my phone (LG G6). if i was working with a RAW file from a decent camera the final image could have come out much cleaner.

Jeep is my buddies. I was trying to focus on Orion and M42 Nebula.

close jeep stars by Jason Montes, on Flickr

Jeep Stars by Jason Montes, on Flickr

trees stars by Jason Montes, on Flickr

stars 1 by Jason Montes, on Flickr

Has anyone made the transition to a digital mirrorless camera?

If yes, which model? Has it met your expectations?

Best regards,

Mike

Source: PerfectDeluthday.com

Drone photographer Dan Nystedt caught an epic moose and wolf fight on camera while shooting scenery in Ontario yesterday.

A couple of articles covering this story:

- https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/06/30/photobucket_charging_400yr_3rdparty_pgs/

- https://www.pcmag.com/news/354711/photobucket-breaks-image-links-across-the-internet

Though they've lost some popularity in the past few years, Photobucket was probably the biggest image hosting site for quite a long time... I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of broken images on forums and blogs now!

Post up your best US flag or otherwise patriotic photos here... bonus points if it's wheeling or camping related!

here's one to get us started, the old WJ at "The Mojave Mailbox":