Just A Thought... I did it

I am thinking about getting rid of one of my two 12" laptops.

I have:
12" PowerBook / 1.5Ghz / 1.25GB RAM / 80Gb Hard Drive / Super Drive / 10.4
12" iBook / 1.33Ghz / 512mb RAM / 40GB Hard Drive / Combo Drive / 10.4

I am thinking about loosing one of these and my iMac to justify the 17" MackBook Pro I bought.

If any of you have any interest let me know.
Dave_M_Shumway@yahoo.com

It was just a thought; but then I pulled the trigger.

Ski Racing

With work I often get sent on assignments that I would, in all likelihood, go on weather it was my job or not. And the two days of ski racing this past weekend is a perfect example of that.

Two days of USSA/USCSA Slalom Ski Racing on Red Lodge Mountain, Red Lodge Montana. The race had many other participants; but it really came down to Rocky Mountain College and Westminster College. Unfortunately Westminster edged out Rocky' Men's & Women's teams both days :(

Nonetheless I had a great time on the slopes.

It was cold (-10) and snowy, shooting in those conditions is always a challenge for both the gear and the photographer. With the need for finger mobility thinner than appropriate gloves are required to operate the camera while the long races take place. Let us just say that fingers are put in harms way to shoot at -10 for two runs of more than 125 skiers.

All said and done I have some images to show for it. I have the teaser above and more online here.

Enjoy

Indoor Tack & Field

I had the privilege of traveling with the RMC Cross Country team to shoot an indoor track meet that they participated in. The rumor is that RMC is considering a track program so I tagged along to build up some images for the web site, if/when it happens.

While I was shooting women's pole vaulting I was told that the women who won also placed 4th in last years Olympic trials (pretty cool.)

Alan King, RMC XC coach, placed 2nd in his heat of the 3000 meter with a time of 9:16 "right on pace" Alan said. Alan is not only the coach of the Men's and Women's XC team; but he is also an accomplished marathoner, who uses NAIA XC as a great way to train for significantly longer races.

The MSU Bozeman arena is fairly well lit and a pleasant change from our relatively dark facilities.


Take a peek at some of the images:

Enjoy

Yellowstone, January 17th - 19th

THE PHOTOS ARE NOW ONLINE

Not a great trip; but I am really happy with some of the landscapes and scenes I was able to capture.

I left Billings at 61 degrees and returned to 51 degrees. In the time between I saw everything from -16 to 41. The weather was too sunny for good daytime wildlife shooting. However the warm sun was nice, a little too nice on my now red face.

I am getting excited for my next trip, early February.

With the things I saw; but did not get photographs of, I am hopeful for images that could go down as some of my favorites of the year.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the images. Please give your favorites a thumbs up and feel free to leave comments on the images.

Enjoy

Yellowstone, January 19th

-16 this morning and the high temp I saw today was 41.

Another fairly slow day, except for the 302 group and a mountain lion :)

Unfortunately neither of the exciting things resulted in photographs. Today was a day of one minuet late and/or $7k short.

The list:

Pronghorn Antelope
Elk
Bison
Bighorn Sheep
Coyote
Golden Eagle
Raven
Magpie
American Dipper
Moose (Bull, one palm left)
Wolves
Mountain Lion

I think that is it. I know I am leaving off something; but I am very tiered.

Things just did not seem to be breaking my way this trip, I put in the time and miles so it can all come around some other time. We need "bad" trips to make us appreciate the magical ones. That said often we bring about our own luck and I simply was a minuet late for everything it seemed... It will be better next time.

I hope to get the photos edited and online soon, I do have a busy week of shooting for RMC however.
I will put a blog entry up with the link when the images are ready.

One month down 11 to go...
One trip, three days and counting...

Yellowstone, January 18th

Another day in paradise.

Start the morning -11 end it in the 30's all while remembering what 61 felt like yesterday.

Things are slow for wildlife, busy (for the season) as far as people are concerned.

Animal list:
Pronghorn Antelope
Bighorn Sheep
Elk
Bison
Mule Deer
Wolves
Coyote
River Otter
American Dipper
Raven
Bald Eagle

I think that is the bulk of things.

Two days and I have yet to fill up a card in a day, so I am not expecting a big bulk of new images.

Tomorrow morning should be the best of the weekend (Lunar Phase wise.)

Thanks for reading, I pray that tomorrow has something exciting for me to report back.

Yellowstone, January 17th - 19th

Today starts another year of monthly trips to Yellowstone National Park.

Not many photos taken today; but the ones I took could end up quite nice.

Species list for the day:
Bald Eagle
Elk
Pronghorn Antelope
Mule Deer
Bighorn Sheep
Coyote
Fox
Raven

I think that is the bulk of the list.

The weather was amazing, while the rest of the country is freezing it was 55 in Billings when I left and was in the low 40's in the Park. Not a cloud in the sky and so very warm, especially for January in Montana.

What will tomorrow bring?

Rim Country, January 10th

Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), Hawks, Turkey Vultures (late in the year I know), Mule Deer, and lots of Coyote and Elk sign. Oh and some little Dogs (Prairie Dogs) too. Some fun little scenes and lots of miles in snow and mud.

With the ground frozen there was about an inch of slippery mud on the top of frozen ground everywhere. To avoid being more of an erosive force than I tend to like to be, I stuck to the snow drifts that remained. This made the walking a little more difficult; but did give me the chance to monitor tracks easily.

I am glad that Saturday was a day of hiking at RimCountry. In the end I am glad for the images I made and the mile put in on my feet.

Sunday was for skiing.

The images are online here.

Enjoy

Decisions...

Well I had a meeting first thing this AM (6:45am.) And now I am sitting at my computer deciding between a day of skiing or a photographic hike. Tomorrow is a ski day so I should probably pack up my gear and head out. 35 and cloudy with a lunar score of 72 (best of the month.) Yeah I'll go try to capture some images. I'll let you know what I come back with.

10 Sexy Careers You Never Thought Of

I had a friend send this my way.
10 Sexy Careers You Never Thought Of

The list is fun, and I am biased; but I really like that #8 made the list :)

And hey someday I may be proud to say that #10 is on that list too.

My December trip is now online

Winter has started in Yellowstone (officially.)

I had the opportunity to observer many coyotes, some on a carcass, during the day as well as a Grizzly Bear that was enjoying the handiwork of a pack of wolves.

This trip finished off a full calendar year of monthly trips to Yellowstone National Park for me. 56 days in the park with 18 trips making it every month of the year. I really did have a great year, I hope you enjoyed the images that I was able to capture over the course of the year. All of them can be seen here.


This trip is online here.
Please take a look and feel free to leave comments and/or give your favorites a thumbs up.

And now for a teaser:

50D 300/2.8L IS + 1.4TC II

Long Flight Home

Well on December 23rd I had a flight out of Billings back to Batavia (my hometown.) A few flights and 14 hours later I was home for two relaxing weeks of vacation. Thanks to all of the interesting folks that I got to meet and kill time with.