Arrowleaf Balsamroot Wildflowers

Our area has large fields of arrowleaf balsamroot wildflowers every spring, but this year is exceptional.  This hillside in Sharon, Idaho is mixed with sticky geranium (cranesbill) and field mint.

Arrowleaf balsamroot are large, showy wildflowers that grow on open hillsides.  Deer and elk often graze on them.

The second and third photos were taken in Emigration Canyon, Idaho.

This shot was taken by placing the camera on the ground and aiming up without looking through the viewfinder.

The last photo was taken near Salt River Summit in Wyoming.  The hillside was covered with arrowleaf balsamroot, but I found some purple lupine to place in the foreground.

What a treat for photographers!

Little Planets

Here's a fun creative Photoshop project that is much easier than it looks.  To get your attention, I will start by showing you the end product, then describe how it was done.  My title for this photo is "America On A Stick".  It was taken in an area of Wells, Nevada that was destroyed by an earthquake in 2008.  An American flag has been painted on a wall next to ruins that have been neglected ever since the earthquake.

I used Photoshop Elements version 9 for this project.  The hardest part of this is to pick a photo that will work well.  It helps to have a photo that has sky colors that match on the left and right edges, and a horizon that is the same height on each edge.  Here is the original photo:

I rotated this photo left 2.5 degrees (Image > rotate > custom) to get the tops of the far left and far right buildings even, then cloned out the power line across the sky.  It helps to overlay a grid across the image to get it even (View > Grid).  The next step is to rotate the adjusted image 180 degrees (Image > rotate > 180)

The next step creates the Little Planet.  The results are pretty unpredictable, so it is always kind of exciting to see what happens.  Filter > Distort > Polar Coordinates.  Select "Rectangular To Polar" and click OK.

Next, fine-tune the image.  In this case, I chose to rotate it back so that the lamp post was on the bottom.  I also blended the line in the sky and some other parts of the same line using the healing brush and clone stamp tools.  Many images will have distracting patterns in the corners that you may want to crop out or retouch.  The final image, as seen in the beginning of this post, was stretched to a circle.  Resize > Image Size, then uncheck "constrain proportions" and type in new dimensions so that width and height are equal.  Finally, crop, retouch, and adjust as desired to get your masterpiece.

365 Project

Here is a challenge for any photographer.  Take at least one good photo every day for a year.  It is much more difficult than it sounds, but can be immensely rewarding if you stay with it.  The problems include running out of ideas, lack of time, and not enough motivation.  Fortunately, there is a web site dedicated to 365ers that really helps – but be careful – it is addictive.  Our Sharp Shooters Camera Club has assigned 30 day projects to its members, and one other club member has joined the 365 project web site.

Photo #38     May 5, 2012

When I joined http://365project.org/ I had no idea that I would be making friends all over the world.  The web site gives photographers a free album to post their daily photos.  Other 365 photographers can review and comment on your photos and you can comment on theirs.  You can click on a button to select an image as a “fav”.  Sometimes, if you get enough favs your photo appears on a Popular Page where more people are likely to see it, and the comments tend to increase continuously.

Photo #266     December 19, 2012

The web site has discussions, themes to photograph, and photo challenges to participate in.  If you want more than one album, you can get two others by buying an ACE membership for $20 per year.   When you see another photographer you like, you can follow them, and they can follow you.  When you follow a photographer, all the photos they post will appear on your page for review.  The more people you comment on, the more followers and comments you will get as people discover your images.

Photo #342     March 5, 2013

I certainly never expected to be contacted by people from 39 states and 37 countries, but that is what happened over the span of my project, and I have made several personal friends.  I have seen images from Lebanon, Papua New Guinea, Estonia, and many other countries I knew little about before this project.  I am in regular contact with wonderful people who share my interest in photography, and was overwhelmed by their comments when I announced that I had completed the project and was going to scale back my participation.  I hope you will read those comments here and review the web site.

Image #365 with comments - http://365project.org/rvwalker/365/2013-03-28

Elk Herd at Jackson Hole

Jackson Hole, Wyoming is the destination for up to 15,000 migrating elk every winter.  The huge herd is spread out in the mountains during the summer, but descends to the sheltered valley in the winter.

Civilization has taken over much of the historic elk feeding grounds, so people help feed these animals during the winter, until they can return to the mountains in summer.  The biggest herds are nearly all cow elk and immature bulls.  The mature bulls tend to stay in separate smaller herds.

The scenery is wonderful here at the National Elk Refuge near Grand Teton National Park.  These photos were taken on a day of off-and-on snow storms.  Brief streaks of light changed to snow squalls in a matter of seconds.

These young bulls practiced sparring with their spike antlers.  This playing will be much more serious in a year or two when the mature bulls battle for females.  Horse-drawn wagon rides are available to take you out to see the elk, but we were lucky to be able to watch this herd from a road through the refuge.

Snowmobile Hill Climb

I am a month late posting this but would like to share photos of the event.  On February 8 and 9, 2013 this snowmobile hill climb took place on a huge hill on the Price ranch in Geneva, Idaho.  The event was sponsored by RMSHA (Rocky Mountain Snowmobile Hillclimb Association) and was promoted by the Bear Lake County Rim Riders.

There were about 500 rides on the hill the day I was there.  The weather was light snow, so the skies were overcast and the light less than ideal.

The riders would get up as much speed as possible at the foot of the hill where they had a sharp turn to begin the climb.

These two photos were hand held pans.  The deep soft snow was difficult to move in so I stayed at the foot of the hill and decided not to use a tripod.

The fastest climb that I saw finished the course in 54 seconds.  That is remarkable on this very steep hill with several turns and jumps.  I purposely chose a slow shutter speed to blur the rider and give a feeling of speed.

Trumpeter Swans

I discovered eight trumpeter swans swimming in the Bear River near Georgetown, Idaho.

These magnificent birds are, on average, the largest waterfowl species on earth, and the heaviest bird in North America. The largest known male weighed 38 pounds (17.2 kilograms) and had a wingspan of 10 feet (3.1 meters).

They drifted downstream to get further away from me, but after I moved my truck closer a couple of times they finally settled down and ignored me. They kept ducking their heads under water and splashing a lot of water around, either bathing or seeking vegetation for food.  Occasionally, one would stand up, stretch its wings forward, then back, to fold them.

One by one they climbed out of the water, spreading their wings for balance like this juvenile.  The younger swans still had some grayish plumage but were showing a lot of the white feathers they would have as adults.

Once they were ashore, they sometimes enjoyed a leisurely stretch.

These swans were rare here until recently, but have made a good comeback thanks to nesting at Bear Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

Rocky Mountain Elk

Nearly every winter Linda and I drive to the Elk feeding grounds in Alpine, Star Valley, Wyoming.  Rocky Mountain elk live in the high country during the summer and descend to lower valleys every winter.  People have taken over most of the elk wintering areas there, so if they are to survive, they need supplemental feeding.  However, there are still areas near our home in the Bear Lake Valley where elk survive on their own.

A big bull and a few cows were part of a big herd waiting to be fed in Alpine, Wyoming.

The elk were fed hay from a horse-drawn sleigh.

After the sleigh left, the elk herd was on the move.  This was probably about 1/3 of the herd which stretched off to the left.  When spring arrives, the herd will scatter throughout the mountains again.