Thread: Some random scribblings

It didn't occur to me until later how well camouflaged I was for my surroundings in this shot. I could be fairly invisible from a distance.




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Yeah, really. It took me a half a second to see your legs there.

Love all the recent pics, you definitely have to climb Rainier and take some pictures. I've hiked a decent way up and illegally camped on it with some friends a few years back; it was amazing.

Yeah and #102 is great how you camo in with the scenery. You don't look too bad either

Thx again folks! dod.. you're hot for old dudes, admit it.

It is just me, or is Kain looking at the camera like, "WTF?"




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The 2nd to last one was a great pic of you. Ahem.

Originally Posted by Flavour of Night

Thx again folks! dod.. you're hot for old dudes, admit it.

Who's old?

And yeah, what I talked to you about on DV Chat. You have some of the best scenes going on in these pics. The scenery is usually just mind-blowing. It's better than some of the best photo manipulations I have seen. But the quality could really be improved. It's almost heart breaking to see such a beautiful landscape with mediocre quality. :p

Originally Posted by Xox

And yeah, what I talked to you about on DV Chat. You have some of the best scenes going on in these pics. The scenery is usually just mind-blowing. It's better than some of the best photo manipulations I have seen. But the quality could really be improved. It's almost heart breaking to see such a beautiful landscape with mediocre quality. :p

Heh heh.. I like it harsh.

A long time ago I decided I'd just shoot 3 MP and forget about it. Relying on my digicams' internal JPEG compression was a bad idea. I fully embrace shooting in RAW mode... MoS talked me into that, and it didn't take much convincing. I also have gotten lazy a lot about using autofocus. Manual focus is better, nearly always. Note to self: Take the time to do it. My unwillingness to add the weight of a solid tripod to my pack also hurts! My Fuji S7000 is beat all to hell from the wear and tear, so once I decide on the dSLR to replace it, I might be afraid to take it on the more grueling trips.

The thing I have to work on is whether I'm the one holding back my equipment, or my equipment is holding me back.. so far, it's probably some of both.

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I hope I remembered Jeff's font color correctly, blue, isn't it?

A Question to Consider

Amid the noise, amid the fail
In blueish font, a question came
"Flav, Are you afraid of dying?"
I considered a moment
The long ages before my birth
And how they felt to me
I considered too
The long ages to come when I am gone
And how they'll feel to me

I was not at all adverse
To times before I came
So I'll not be too adverse
To times when I have gone

So no, I'm not afraid of death
Though I'm not too keen on dying
Rather I fear becoming so accustomed to living
That I might forget to do it right

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Originally Posted by Flavour of Night

Heh heh.. I like it harsh.

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Don't get me wrong. I think you're pictures are still amazing. (Heh, they're better than any of my sad attempts :p I'm no one to speak) But I definitely think they could be much, much better. But it would be a pain carrying a DSLR around. :/

They could be a bit clearer. But overall they're awesome.

Still no progress in getting a dSLR picked out. It's like being in the market for a new roommate, once you commit, you're kinda stuck with it, and if it drives you crazy, too bad.

If you ever see a picture, and the water looks like this next shot, someone's taken extreme liberties in photoshop. I only mention this, and only did this because this is what the postcards in the shops around the park typically look like, except with better cameras. I've been to this spot dozens of times, and the water has never looked like this once... but it does on the postcards! In truth, we all know that postcards are written and sent to make the folks back home insane with jealousy... by presenting an idealized version of wherever it is we happen to have gotten off to.




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-cough-GET A NIKON-cough-

Nikon.. exactly where I'm leaning. but WHICH?

Might as well post something before I try to go to bed.

Maybe I should call this one, "Dude, Where's My Tent?" Yep.. I routinely look like this in the morning. I don't like morning. Well, at least the waking up part.




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At school in my photo class, we only had one digital camera. It was a Nikon D40 and although it's an older model, it's still an amaazing camera. Plus you'll save a lot of money since it's both old and you'll have to buy it already used. I find that any Nikon from the D series is great. My friend got one of the newer ones that's over $500 and she's not even a photographer. She barely uses the damn thing. I'M SO JEALOUS.

The Canon Rebel XTi is also a good one. My friend has one and it's magical. Personally I prefer the Nikon though.

So around the D40 - D50 range is good both technically and price-wise.

Hope that all helped (Shift and Josh are good to ask too).

I might have already eliminated that series.. but since I haven't been taking notes (which I should be doing), I can't remember why... shit, start over.

Now for a photo... This is a fairly common sight in the some of the more heavily settled areas during the pre-park days. The cabin has long since vanished, but the chimney remains. Black and white seems a nice touch here.




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This is one of my very favorite spots in the Smokies. It is just above Campsite 90 on the Eagle Creek Trail, just as Eagle Creek reaches its' embayment at Fontana Lake. In this photo, the lake level is down just far enough to expose the lake bottom, adding some dynamic to the photo. When the lake is full, the bare lake bottom is not visible, and the whole thing is a large calm pool. This is a scan from a very scratchy and dusty photo, so I had to do a lot of processing to conceal the damage. The photo was also somewhat blurry, so the image is sharpened rather severely. The tree limb hanging out over the water (which adds some more nice dynamic) is long gone.




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Noland Creek in North Carolina, and no, I didn't fall in. But Robert did. Robert's nickname is "The Baptist", because he's always falling into creeks. On this particular occasion, after Matt and I had crossed the makeshift footlog, Robert inched his way along... It probably didn't help that Matt and I were standing on the bank critiquing his performance, rather obnoxiously. He made it halfway, lost his balance, got pissed, half jumped/half fell into the creek and stomped/splashed across cursing profusely. The only words other than "f*ck!" that we could discern was a reference to "Going home and selling this shit". Robert usually isn't happy when the joke is on him, and Matt and I tried desperately not to lose our shit laughing. We failed badly... which pissed Robert off doubly. It was nothing that a couple beers couldn't cure once in camp another mile or so upstream.

Robert snapped this one of when I wasn't looking, otherwise I would have seen the camera, started showing off, and probably would have gone in the water.




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A stupid little poem from chat...


Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
And if I WILD before I wake
I pray the Lord my bed not shake

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We should have a Dream Views 'Lucid Dreaming Poetry Contest' or something.

On the other hand, let's not.

This image is pretty shitty, but it shows something you don't see everyday, fog down below. What's really cool is when you get above 5,000 feet or so, and the fog is solid with the cloud tops down around 4,500 feet or so. The effect is that peaks and ridges above the cloud tops will appear as islands in a sea of fog. I wish a had a good shot of this, but this shot of the fog rolling up the valley is as good as I have... well, so far.




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Compare to post #111, not too great a shot, but the different season is obvious.




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Robert, myself, and Matt. Robert is the one who hauls cases of beer over great distances. I'm the one who calls him an idiot for hauling cases of beer over great distances (but I'm never too proud to beg for one). Matt has an interesting story. Some years back, he was rope climbing on Cherokee Bluffs across the river near downtown Knoxville. He had a little accident on the rope and left one of his thumbs dangling by a shred of flesh. Fortunately, the U.T. Medical Center is pretty much right on top the bluffs more or less. After what he describes as an "insanely expensive" helicopter flight up to Lexington (I think it was), he got it re-attached. His thumb works, more or less.

If you're not adverse to walking crazy distances with shit on your back, heat, humidity, sweat, bugs, and squatting in a parcel of dirt, backpacking might be for you.

Note the obligatory bad-ass non-smiling poses. it was too damned hot and sticky to smile. The only reason we had a fire going was that insects can't handle smoke.

Yea, I know, the photo quality is crap.





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OK, the only reason for this next shot is that every single guy who has ever drunk beer in the woods and sees a camera pointed his way has done this. So, if you've drunk beer in the woods and anyone's ever pointed a camera at you, and you claim you haven't, you're lying. No matter how many times I see this stupid pose, it's still good for lulz. Thanks Jody.




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