Ann’s brother Randy (Fish) & his family (wife Amy and sons Jonathan and Nathaniel) are in town on their way to Redding, California. My cousin Dougie Blocksma and fianceé Liz are in town before leaving for their wedding in Michagan. Sean joins us to celebrate the convergence with grilled turkey dogs, sauerkraut, salad, and beer.

The sky is looking good for a sunset, so I grab my big tripod, climb up on the roof of the RV, and take a bunch of different exposures to play with. I’ve done a little more reading about High Dynamic Range imaging, and what I’m doing might not technically qualify as HDR, which in…

My first attempt at high dynamic range, or combining several exposures into one, just to see if I could employ the technique using the GIMP. Not hard at all – the only trick was lining up the different frames, which weren’t exactly the same because I used a micro tripod strapped to my bike handlebars.

I spotted these Western Grebes (Aechmophorus occidentalis) along my commute path this morning. Their long necks make them look distinctive on the water, then suddenly they’re gone! They were staying under water for a minute or so, then they’d appear again nearby.

Poland Hill provides one of the best overall views of the main Vedauwoo rock formations. You can click the image to view it on Flickr with my notes of all the formation names. Clicking the magnifying glass in Flickr will let you see it in higher resolution.

The hiking season is now in swing, and I’ve been skimming lots of trail journal entries looking for some interesting hikers to follow. On the CDT, Sidewinder has just reached Pie Town: I arrive here hoping to get to town so I can eat a meal in the local diner, of which there are 2.…

Heron Lake was the glassiest I’ve ever seen it this morning. The birds must have decided to perform their constitutional ablutions elsewhere today.

The rainy season has finally hit Fort Collins, and with it some good sky drama. I dashed up to the roof of the RV to take these as a storm passed at sunset. I’ve been too lazy to make panoramas lately, but I was excited to discover autostitch, which makes it easy. The detail at…

I’m proud that after introducing my mom to blogging, she took to it with the same passion that fuels her many creative endeavors. She turned to her blog as a form of therapy when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her blog attracted some attention, and when the Health Central Breast Cancer Site discovered it,…