Sixteen-Years Ago Today. Yosemite National Park in California.
While driving into Yosemite National Park for a photography workshop with Michael Mariant I noticed something red off in the woods. I stopped to retrieve it if it was some trash but instead found these strange red objects growing out of the ground. When I showed the images that I took to Michael, he told me that they were Snow Plant (Sarcodes sanguinea) flowers. The Snow Plants don’t have any chlorophyll and derive their nutrition from fungi living under the soil near conifer trees.
Snow Plant (Sarcodes sanguinea) in Yosemite National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 45 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 100, 45 mm, f/8, 1/13 sec).
Eight-Years Ago Today. Indoor Cactus Garden in New Jersey.
I take the cactus in for the winter and rarely see them blossom. I was about to move them outside when I noticed one of the small barrel cacti had small flowers. I couldn’t get the level of detail I wanted with a single macro image. Instead, I made a composite of 24 focus stacked images using a Nikon Df camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/4, 1/125 sec) and SB-910 flash (EV -2). The images were processed using Helicon Focus: [Method B (depth map, R = 8, S = 4)].
Small barrel cactus flowers. Composite of 24 focus stacked images taken with a Nikon Df camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/4, 1/125 sec)
Twelve-Years Ago Today. Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage.
On one of the days that the MV Explorer was docked in Le Havre, France I went for a photowalk in Paris with Thomas Paris. While walking through Parc de Bercy we came upon a Capoeira performance. I had never seen this before. I was told that it is an Afro-Brazilian form of martial arts that combines dance, acrobatics, and music. The two performers did their choreographed acrobatic dance moves to the beat of an African drum.
Capoeria Performance in Parc de Bercy. Late Spring Photowalk in Paris. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/5, 1/200 sec). Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage.
Sixteen-Years Ago Today. Crystal Geyser Outside of Green River, Utah.
One night while on a cross-country road trip I stopped at a motel in Green River, Utah. In the lobby, I saw a brochure for the Crystal Geyser. The desk attendant said it was easy to get to, just a few miles outside of the city accessible via a dirt road on Bureau of Land Management land. The cold geyser is near an abandoned Air Force missile testing facility and is right next to the Green River. I got there just in time for the sun to set but didn’t see the geyser erupt. The brochure did say the eruptions were irregular.
The next morning before driving to Cedar City, I made another stop at the Crystal Geyser. This time I was fortunate to arrive in time to see the geyser erupt. The geyser is unique in that the water is cold and powered by carbon dioxide — not heat. The geyser is the result of drilling for gas (petroleum) many years ago. When the location was under Air Force control as part of a missile test range, the geyser was off-limits for visits. The eruptions are irregular, and you need to be lucky or very patient to see an eruption happen.
In this image there is someone meditating while the eruption occurred. The water coming out of the geyser rises over 20 feet in the air — and unlike Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park, the water from Crystal Geyser is cold to the touch. The water is mineral rich, and deposits building the crystalline Travertine terrace as the water flows to the river. I’ve visited the site several times since 2009. The eruptions are not as regular and not as strong. The last time I visited, mineral rich water was still flowing out of the hole.
Meditation at Crystal Geyser outside of Green River, Utah. Image taken with a Nikon D300 and 35 mm f/2D lens (ISO 200, 35 mm, f/10, 1/400 sec).
Fourteen-years ago Today. Semester at Sea Spring 2011 Enrichment Voyage.
While the M/V Explorer was docked in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica I went on a field trip to visit the local rain forests. The focus of the field trip was to observe and photograph birds and other wildlife in the rainforest. Sometimes when you see something you just have to take the shot. In this case it was the woman focused on her digital phone in the middle of the rainforest.
Woman in the Window Texting. Corrugated Metal House in the Rain Forest of Costa Rica. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 2000, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec).
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